Spectrum of congenital malformations in newborns: in a medical college hospital in South India

Background: The study was carried out with the aim to determine the overall rate of congenital malformations, incidence in live births and stillbirths, as well as incidence affecting various organ systems, at a medical college hospital in Karnataka and compare them to previous studies Methods: All intramural deliveries between June 2012 and March 2014 were included in the study. All the new-borns were examined for congenital malformations soon after birth and every day during routine ward rounds. Relevant radiological, histo-hematological and genetic tests were carried out. Results: During the study period there were 3016 births out of which 2941 were live births and 75 were still born. 93 babies had one or more malformations. The overall incidence of malformations was 3.083%. Incidence of malformations among live births was 2.72% whereas it was 17.33% among still born babies. Musculoskeletal malformations accounted for 27.5% of all the malformations. This was followed by cutaneous 19.16%, genitourinary 15.83%, gastrointestinal 12.5%, neurological 10% and cardiac 5.83%. Conclusion: Congenital anomalies are a major cause of stillbirths and infant mortality. Musculoskeletal malformations were the commonest system involved. Still born babies had a significantly higher incidence of malformations and also had a higher incidence of multiple malformations.