Download PDF
CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 · Indian J Plast Surg 2009; 42(S 01): S184-S191
DOI: 10.1055/s-0039-1699392
Survey
Association of Plastic Surgeons of India

A community-based survey of visible congenital anomalies in rural Tamil Nadu

K. Sridhar
Past President APSI, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
› Author Affiliations
Further Information

Publication History

Publication Date:
15 January 2020 (online)

Also available at
  PDF Download Permissions and Reprints

ABSTRACT

An extensive community-based survey of visible congenital defects covering 12.8 million children in rural Tamil Nadu state was conducted during the years 2004OE05. A door-to-door survey was done utilizing the existing health care delivery system. More than 10,000 village health nurses were involved to collect the data. All children between the ages of 0 and 15 years were seen.

The children with defects were seen by a medical officer and diagnosis was made as per chart. A total of 1.30% of children were born with some visible anomalies. The male:female ratio was 1.3:1. There was a family history in 9% and consanguinity in 32%. More than 5% mothers had taken some medication in the first trimester of pregnancy out of which anti-convulsants were 3.4%.

Facial clefts showed a lower incidence of 1 in 1976 live births with peak incidence between March and June. Cleft palate alone showed a higher percentage (30%) than other studies.

KEY WORDS

Cleft lip - Cleft palate - Community survey - Epidemiology of facial cleft - Visible birth defects
 

  • REFERENCES

  • 1 Sayetta RB, Weinrich MC, Coston GN, Incidence and prevalence of cleft lip and palate: What we think we know. Cleft Palate J 1989;26:242-7.
  • 2 Jensen BL, Kreiborg S, Dahl E, Fogh-Andersen P. Cleft lip and palate in Denmark, 1976-1981: Epidemiology, variability, and early somatic development. Cleft Palate J 1988;25:258-69.
  • 3 Murray JC, Daack-Hirsch S, Buetow KH, Munger R, Espina L, Paglinawan N, et al. Clinical and epidemiologic studies of cleft lip and palate in the Philippines. Cleft Palate Craniofac J 1997;34:7-10.
  • 4 Iregbulem LM. The incidence of cleft lip and palate in Nigeria. Cleft Palate J 1982;19:201-5.
  • 5 Vanderas AP. Incidence of cleft lip, cleft palate, and cleft lip and palate among races: A review. Cleft Palate J 1987;24:216-25.
  • 6 Saxén I. Epidemiology of cleft lip and palate. An attempt to rule out chance correlations. Br J Prevent Soc Med 1975;29:103-10.
  • 7 Wang SL, Huang CS, Chen YR, Noordhoff MS. Cleft lip and cleft palate in the Craniofacial Center, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital: Incidence, sex, seasonality and topographic distribution Changgeng Yi Xue Za Zhi 1989;20:215-24.
  • 8 Coupland MA, Coupland AI. Seasonality, incidence, and sex distribution of cleft lip and palate births in Trent Region, 1973-1982. Cleft Palate J 1988;25:33-7.