The Victorian Birth Defects Register (VBDR) is a population-based surveillance system with a primary function of monitoring trends in birth defects. This paper outlines the processes undertaken in Victoria, Australia, to obtain population prevalence rates of birth defects and investigates the effect on the prevalence rates of variations in collection and processing tasks. It includes all birth ...

CONTEXT Few systematic data exist on survival and reproduction among males with birth defects and their contribution to occurrence of birth defects in the next generation. OBJECTIVE To estimate survival of males with registered birth defects, their subsequent reproduction rates, and their risk of transmitting birth defects to their offspring. DESIGN AND SETTING Population-based cohort study...

BACKGROUND Acute lower respiratory infections (ALRIs) are leading causes of hospitalisation in children. Birth defects occur in 5% of live births in Western Australia (WA). The association between birth defects and ALRI hospitalisation is unknown. METHODS We conducted a retrospective cohort study of 245,249 singleton births in WA (1996-2005). Population-based hospitalisation data were linked ...

Major birth defects are an important public health issue because they are the leading cause of infant mortality. The most common birth defects are congenital heart defects, neural tube defects, and Down syndrome. Birth defects surveillance guides policy development and provides data for prevalence estimates, epidemiologic research, planning, and prevention. Several factors influence birth defec...

OBJECTIVES To assess the proportion and pattern of extracardiac birth defects in children with congenital heart defects referred to a tertiary care institute. METHODS Cross-sectional observational study from January 2010 to June 2011. RESULTS Out of 560 children with congenital heart defects, 98 (17.5%) had extracardiac birth defects. Fifty-six had multiple congenital defects; 36 were syndr...

Sprayed extensively by the US military in Vietnam, Agent Orange contained a dioxin contaminant later found to be toxic to humans [7]. Despite reports by Vietnamese citizens and Vietnam War veterans of increased rates of stillbirths and birth defects [8] in their children, studies in the 1980s showed conflicting evidence for an association between the two. In 1996, the US National Academy of Sci...

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Editorial Birth defects – or by according to the World Health Organization's (WHO) term: congenital anomalies – are structural, functional and/or biochemical-molecular defects present at birth whether detected at that time or not (Figure 1). Among different categories of birth defects, congenital abnormalities, i.e. structural-morphological defects represent the largest one. Congenital abnormal...

The literature on the association between prenatal illicit drug use and birth defects is inconsistent. The objective of this study was to determine the risk of a variety of birth defects with prenatal illicit drug use. Data were derived from an active, population-based adverse pregnancy outcome registry. Cases were all infants and fetuses with any of 54 selected birth defects delivered during 1...