Limb reduction defects in the northern region of England 1985-92.

STUDY OBJECTIVE To test the hypothesis that children born to mothers living near the sea are at increased risk of limb reduction defects. DESIGN Descriptive data analysis. SETTING The northern health region of England. PATIENTS All children born between 1 January 1985 and 31 December 1992 in the northern region of England with isolated limb reduction defects. MAIN RESULTS The birth prevalence of isolated limb reduction defects was not affected by the distance the mother lived from the sea. There was some evidence of space-time clustering, but there was no evidence of statistically significant variation in the occurrence of the condition with sex, time of birth (monthly or yearly), or county of birth. CONCLUSIONS There is no evidence that children born to mothers living near the sea are at increased risk of limb reduction defects.