Frequency of congenital malformation in babies followed in the newborn intensive care unit

A congenital malformation or birth defect is defined as any structural or functional abnormality that is present at birth, may be genetically inherited, acquired during pregnancy, or resulting from birth. Congenital malformations constitute one of the most important causes of newborn and childhood deaths, chronic diseases and morbidity. The aim of this study is to define congenital malformations, to determine the frequency and to investigate the factors that may be effective in the etiology in inpatients in the Newborn Intensive Care Unit of Necmettin Erbakan University Meram Medical Faculty Hospital. The files of 4860 patients hospitalized in the newborn intensive care unit between October 1, 2017 and October 15, 2021 were reviewed retrospectively. Among these cases, the frequency of malformation was found to be 8.7%. Considering the distribution of malformations by organ systems, the most frequently affected system was the cardiovascular system (23.8%). This is followed by central nervous system (21.6%), genitourinary system (17.7%), gastrointestinal system (12.5%), head-neck-face (11.5%), musculoskeletal (7%) and respiratory system (6%) anomalies followed. The most common type of isolated anomaly was hydronephrosis (11.5%). In addition, in the cases included in the study; gender, parental consanguinity, maternal age, prenatal follow-up status, antenatal diagnosis, week of gestation, birth weight, mode of delivery, number of fetuses, parity number, concomitant syndromes, maternal diseases, maternal drug, smoking and substance use, Folic acid replacement before and during pregnancy, history of miscarriage, malformation and death in previous pregnancies, mortality rate in babies with malformations, type of malformation, single/multiple occurrence were investigated, and the relationship between these parameters was searched. As a result of the study, genitourinary system malformations were observed in the babies of pregnant women who had urinary tract infection, and central nervous system malformations were observed in babies of pregnant women who had Covid-19 infection. In addition, the emergence of cardiovascular and gastrointestinal system anomalies in preterm infants and the high rate of death of respiratory system malformations were among the other prominent findings. In general, determining the frequency of congenital malformations and determining the factors that may be effective in the etiology and taking measures accordingly will play an important role in both reducing morbidity and mortality and increasing the socio-economic well-being of societies.