Trends in the prevalence of congenital hydrocephalus in 14 cities in Liaoning province, China from 2006 to 2015 in a population-based birth defect registry from the Liaoning Women and Children's Health Hospital.

Yan-Hong Huang,Cheng-Zhi Jiang,Jing Li,Qi-Jun Wu,Li-Li Li,Ting-Ting Gong,Chen Zhou,Yan-Ling Chen

doi:10.18632/oncotarget.24239

Abstract

The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence and trends of congenital hydrocephalus (CH) using a large population-based sample with cases retrieved from the Liaoning Birth Defects Registry, which included 14 cities, over a 10-year period. CH prevalence, percent change, average change, and contribution rates of each city were calculated. Statistical analysis was performed using a Poisson regression model. There was a total of 3008 CH cases among 3,248,954 live births during the observational period (9.26 cases/10,000 live births). On average, the prevalence of CH had significantly decreased by 11.84% each year (P < 0.01). The three leading cities with the highest prevalence of CH were Chaoyang (13.73/10,000), Huludao (13.18/10,000), and Fuxin (12.71/10,000), while Yingkou (6.06/10,000), Dalian (6.27/10,000), and Anshan (6.56/10,000) had the lowest prevalence. Notably, significantly decreasing trends were observed in 10 (71.4%) of these 14 cities. In addition, the cities of Fushun, Shenyang, and Dalian had contributed to more than one-third of the decreasing trend in Liaoning province. In conclusion, this study provides evidence of the decreasing prevalence of CH over a 10-year period (2006–2015) in Liaoning province. Preventative efforts should be strengthened to further reduce the risk of CH in these high prevalence areas.

Highlights

According to the International Classification of Diseases (10th Revision) published by the World Health Organization, congenital hydrocephalus (CH) is characterized by an abnormal accumulation of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) within the cerebral ventricles, which results from an imbalance between production and absorption [1]
From 2006 to 2015, the prevalence of CH of Liaoning province significantly decreased from 14.64 to 3.18 cases per 10,000 live births due to decreasing trends observed in all 14 cities, this trend did not reach statistical significance in all cities
Since the prevalence of CH remained relatively high in some cities, further preventive efforts are warranted to reduce the future risk of CH in these areas

Summary

Introduction

According to the International Classification of Diseases (10th Revision) published by the World Health Organization, congenital hydrocephalus (CH) is characterized by an abnormal accumulation of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) within the cerebral ventricles, which results from an imbalance between production and absorption [1]. The accumulation of CSF in the majority of CH cases is reduced through the widespread use of CSF shunting, the fetus or infant often faces multiple surgical procedures resulting in significant morbidity [1, 2], which continues to be a worldwide public health burden. Hydrocephalus present at birth can remain subclinical until aging or trauma causes the disease to become symptomatic [4,5,6,7]. The prevalence of CH remains poorly defined, because of the various definitions of CH between studies, and the limited number of studies describing the differences between congenital and acquired hydrocephalus

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