Congenital malformations in the North-Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo during Civil War.

OBJECTIVE To report on changes in the incidence of congenital malformations in a context of an ongoing civil conflict. DESIGN Retrospective study. SETTING Centre Médical Evangélique (CME) of Nyankunde, a 250 bed referral hospital, in the North Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) during the period 1993 to 2001. SUBJECTS A total of 8824 babies were delivered alive at our maternity; and 36 of them (0.41%) were born with a clinically diagnosed congenital malformations. RESULTS The breakdown of the observed malformations was as follow: clubbed foot nine, congenital hydrocephalus eight, spina bifida six, cleft lip four, encephalocele two, syndactyly two, imperforated anus two, Anencephaly one, lymphangioma one, bladder exstrophy one. There was a significant increase in the annual incidence of congenital malformations (p<0.001). CONCLUSION Ongoing civil conflicts or wars ultimately have a negative impact on the incidence of congenital malformations. This is an indirect and multifactorial consequence. We conclude that ongoing civil conflict is a contributing factor to the increasing incidence of congenital malformations seen in the North-Eastern DRC.