Abstract
BackgroundLittle is known about the epidemiology of congenital hydrocephalus (CH) in China. This study aimed to depict recent changes in CH prevalence and perinatal outcomes of the affected newborns.MethodsData were obtained from the Chinese Birth Defects Monitoring Network (CBDMN), which collects demographic information on all newborns above 28 weeks of gestation, and clinical information on neonates with congenital anomalies. CH cases delivered during 2005–2012 were analyzed. Poisson regression was used to calculate prevalence ratios (PR) and 95% confidence intervals, and linear chi-square test was used to examine time trend of CH prevalence.ResultsFive thousand two hundred forty-five isolated and 1245 associated CH cases were identified among 10,574,061 newborns, yielding the prevalence of 4.96, 1.18 and 6.14 per 10,000 births for the isolated, associated and overall hydrocephalus, respectively. The annual prevalence of CH presented a decreasing trend (from 7.52 to 5.98 per 10,000 births, P < 0.001). Higher prevalence was found in both younger (<20 years, PR: 1.81, 95% CI: 1.56–2.10) and older (≥35 years, PR: 1.48, 95% CI: 1.36–1.61) maternal-age groups in comparison with the maternal-age group of 20 to 24 years. Higher prevalence was also found in infants born to mothers resided in rural areas, male infants, and multiple births. Of non-aborted infants with congenital hydrocephalus, 38.11% were born with low birth weight, 37.53% were preterm birth, and 20.69% died within 7 days after birth.ConclusionsOur findings present a relatively high prevalence and poor perinatal outcomes of CH in China, which can serve as a baseline for future study.
Highlights
Little is known about the epidemiology of congenital hydrocephalus (CH) in China
Both younger and older maternal age were associated with higher CH prevalence as compared to the maternal age group of 20–24 years
The highest prevalence of isolated CH was observed in maternal age < 20 years group (PR: 1.88, 95% Confidence intervals (CI): 1.60–2.22), whereas the highest prevalence of associated CH was in ≥35 years maternal age group (PR: 1.98, 95% confidence intervals (95% CI): 1.67–2.36)
Summary
Little is known about the epidemiology of congenital hydrocephalus (CH) in China. This study aimed to depict recent changes in CH prevalence and perinatal outcomes of the affected newborns. Lots of medical institutions have been established to provide prenatal screening and diagnosis services for pregnant women since the National Regulation on the Administration of Prenatal Diagnosis Techniques took effect in 2003 [16], which led to the improvement of prenatal diagnosis and an increase in termination of pregnancies with severe birth defects. These changes had a great impact on the birth prevalence of certain birth defects in China, such as NTDs and Down syndrome [17, 18]. This study aimed to investigate recent changes in the prevalence of CH and perinatal outcomes of the affected neonates based on newly updated CBDMN database
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