Prenatal Diagnosis of Congenital Malformations in Douala General Hospital

Abstract

To determine the prevalence of congenital malformations and the proportion of cases diagnosed before birth; to specify this proportion according to the type of malformation and the sonographer qualification. Methods: It was a cross-sectional study carried out at the Douala General Hospital in the obstetric and neonatal units over a period of 42 months, from January 2008 to June 2012. The procedure consisted of; firstly an explanation of the study purpose with consent of parents obtained, thereafter, the parents were interviewed and data extracted from their files. The new born had a complete clinical exam. Morphological and biological assessment were done to ascertain diagnosis if needed. They were then followed up for 48 hours. Data were analysed using SPSS. Statistical analyses were mainly descriptive: mean, median, mode and frequency were calculated. Results: During this period, 6048 neonates were examined, 99 of whom had a malformation giving a prevalence of 1.64%. Musculoskeletal defects were the most common (36.4%), followed by digestive tract defects (22.2%). Ultrasounds were carried out mainly in the second term. Among the malformed babies, only 16.2% were diagnosed during the prenatal period. The obstetricians did better than radiologist in the prenatal diagnosis of congenital malformations. All the urinary tract malformations and 33.3% of the polymalformations were diagnosed by prenatal echography. Among the malformed babies, 33% died within the first 48 hours of life and poly-malformed babies were more concerned (66.7%). Conclusion: The prevalence of congenital birth defect was 1.64%. The rate of prenatal diagnosis remained low, meanwhile one third of the affected babies die after births. An early diagnosis would anticipate on medical care at birth and allow therapeutics abortions when indicated.