The neonatal characteristics of congenital defects of the kidney and urinary tract – our experience

Abstract

Introduction. Congenital defects of the kidney and urinary tract occur in the prenatal period and are responsible for 20-30% of all developmental malformations. The purpose of this study is to assess the risk factors for these intrauterine de­velop­men­tal disorders. Materials and method. We per­formed a prospective study between June 2016 and Au­gust 2021 that included newborns from the “Bucur” Ma­ter­nity, Bucharest, who were diagnosed with congenital de­fects of the kidney and urinary tract. The study included 273 new­borns divided into two groups: newborns with de­ve­loping ano­ma­lies (n=144; 52.7% of all the subjects), and newborns with­out these anomalies (n=129; 47.3% of all the newborns). The malformations were divided into major and minor im­pair­ments. Results. Minor renal mal­for­ma­tions were found in 5.56% of the newborns with anomalies (five males and three females). Also, 50% of these subjects were identified during pregnancy with a suspicion of minor renal anomalies. Moreover, 71.43% of the patients with this diagnosis had their mother living in ur­ban area, and 37.5% of the patients with minor renal mal­for­ma­tions came from a mother with diabetes. Another 37.5% of the newborns with minor renal defects had their mo­ther with a history of oncologic diseases. Furthermore, 15.28% of the newborns from the group with development ano­ma­lies had major renal defects, 77.78% of them being born with a caesarean section and 77.27% of them being diag­nosed during preg­nancy. Conclusions. Major renal mal­for­ma­tions are diag­nos­ed in the prenatal period in a higher proportion than minor renal anomalies. Mothers with diabetes, on­co­lo­gi­cal or renal diseases have a higher in­ci­dence of gi­ving birth to an infant with urologic defects. Al­co­hol con­sump­tion can lead to major renal anomalies. Cae­sa­rean section is often required for infants with major renal ano­ma­lies. Male sex is associated with a higher incidence for mi­nor renal anomalies.