Indirect Effects of Neighbourhood Socioeconomic Status on Preterm Birth Risk in an Argentine Population.

Background: Preterm birth (PTB) is the main condition related to perinatal morbimortality worldwide. The aim of this study was to determine the indirect effects of neighbourhood socioeconomic status (NSES) on the risk of spontaneous PTB.

Methods: We carried out a retrospective case-control study including sociodemographic and obstetric data of multigravid women who gave birth at a maternity hospital in Tucumán, Argentina, between 2005 and 2010: 949 women without previous PTB nor pregnancy loss who delivered at term and 552 who had spontaneous PTB.

Gastroschisis prevalence patterns in 27 surveillance programs from 24 countries, International Clearinghouse for Birth Defects Surveillance and Research, 1980-2017.

Background: Gastroschisis is a serious birth defect with midgut prolapse into the amniotic cavity. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the prevalence and time trends of gastroschisis among programs in the International Clearinghouse for Birth Defects Surveillance and Research (ICBDSR), focusing on regional variations and maternal age changes in the population.

Methods: We analyzed data on births from 1980 to 2017 from 27 ICBDSR member programs, representing 24 countries and three regions (Europe , Latin America, North America).

Genetic susceptibility for retinopathy of prematurity and its associated comorbidities.

Background: Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) is one of the leading cause of child blindness. Preterm newborns of very low gestational age (GA) and very low birth weight are at the greatest risk. Our objective was to evaluate the role of genetic variants associated with ROP risk and its comorbidities in an Argentinian sample of premature infants.

Paternal age and risk for selected birth defects in a large South American sample.

Background: The relationship between maternal age (MA) and birth defects (BD) has been extensively studied while much less research, mostly with discordant results, has focused on the risk of paternal age (PA) for BD. Furthermore, no consensus has been reached on the best way to control the association of PA with MA.

Objectives: The aim of the study was to evaluate the risk of PA increase, at 1-year intervals, for selected BD, especially controlling for the confounding effect of MA.

A multi-program analysis of cleft lip with cleft palate prevalence and mortality using data from 22 International Clearinghouse for Birth Defects Surveillance and Research programs, 1974-2014.

Background: Cleft lip with cleft palate (CLP) is a congenital condition that affects both the oral cavity and the lips. This study estimated the prevalence and mortality of CLP using surveillance data collected from birth defect registries around the world.

Methods: Data from 22 population- and hospital-based surveillance programs affiliated with the International Clearinghouse for Birth Defects Surveillance and Research (ICBDSR) in 18 countries on live births (LB), stillbirths (SB), and elective terminations of pregnancy for fetal anomaly (ETOPFA) for CLP from 1974 to 2014 were analyzed.

Diseases during pregnancy in a large unselected South American sample.

Objective: Our aim was to describe the prevalence of diseases during pregnancy and the association between fetal exposure to the most frequent maternal diseases and the risk of preterm (PTB) and/or small for gestational age (SGA) newborns in an unselected sample of women who gave birth in South American countries.

Methods: We conducted a descriptive, cross-sectional study including 56,232 mothers of non-malformed infants born between 2002 and 2016, using data from the Latin American Collaborative Study of Congenital Malformations (ECLAMC). Diseases with higher- than-expected PTB/SGA frequencies were identified.

A Multicountry Analysis of Prevalence and Mortality among Neonates and Children with Bladder Exstrophy.

Objective: Bladder exstrophy (BE) is a rare but severe birth defect affecting the lower abdominal wall and genitourinary system. The objective of the study is to examine the total prevalence, trends in prevalence, and age-specific mortality among individuals with BE.

Study Design: We conducted a retrospective cohort study.

Neonatal anthropometry of malformed newborns: A large South American population-based study.

Background: Population-based anthropometric evaluation of malformed newborns is scarce.

Objectives: To evaluate malformed newborns' foetal growth using the ICD 10 malformations' classification.

Methods: A study including 33,769 newborns (14,857 malformed and 18,912 nonmalformed), selected from 678,840 births from nine South American countries, period 2010-2018, was conducted.

Lethality of Birth Defects in Live Born Infants Categorized by Gestational Age and Birth Weight.

Objective: This study aimed to describe lethality of birth defects (BDs) in newborns categorized by gestational age and birth weight and to identify BDs associated with prematurity.

Study Design: Live born infants ( = 16,452) with isolated BDs classified by severity, and 42,511 healthy controls were assigned to categories: adequate growth, preterm, or small for gestational age (SGA). Proportion of cases and BDs' lethality rates were obtained by category and compared with controls.

Preterm birth etiological pathways: a Bayesian networks and mediation analysis approach.

Background: The aim of this study was to determine the mediating effect of spontaneous preterm birth (PTB) main predictors that would allow to suggest etiological pathways.

Methods: We carried out a case-control study, including sociodemographic characteristics, habits, health care, and obstetric data of multiparous women who gave birth at a maternity hospital from Tucumán, Argentina, between 2005 and 2010: 998 women without previous PTB who delivered at term and 562 who delivered preterm. We selected factors with the greatest predictive power using a penalized logistic regression model.

Survival of infants born with esophageal atresia among 24 international birth defects surveillance programs.

Background: Esophageal atresia (EA) affects around 2.3-2.6 per 10,000 births world-wide.

The Latin American network for congenital malformation surveillance: ReLAMC.

The early detection of congenital anomaly epidemics occurs when comparing current with previous frequencies in the same population. The success of epidemiologic surveillance depends on numerous factors, including the accuracy of the rates available in the base period, wide population coverage, and short periodicity of analysis. This study aims to describe the Latin American network of congenital malformation surveillance: ReLAMC, created to increase epidemiologic surveillance in Latin America.

Prevalence and mortality in children with congenital diaphragmatic hernia: a multicountry study.

Purpose: This study determined the prevalence, mortality, and time trends of children with congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH).

Methods: Twenty-five hospital- and population-based surveillance programs in 19 International Clearinghouse for Birth Defects Surveillance and Research member countries provided birth defects mortality data between 1974 and 2015. CDH cases included live births, stillbirths, or elective termination of pregnancy for fetal anomalies.

A multi-country study of prevalence and early childhood mortality among children with omphalocele.

Background: Omphalocele is the second most common abdominal birth defect and often occurs with other structural and genetic defects. The objective of this study was to determine omphalocele prevalence, time trends, and mortality during early childhood, by geographical region, and the presence of associated anomalies.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective study with 23 birth defect surveillance systems in 18 countries who are members of the International Clearinghouse for Birth Defects Surveillance and Research that submitted data on cases ascertained from 2000 through 2012, approximately 16 million pregnancies were surveyed that resulted in live births, stillbirths, or elective terminations of pregnancy for fetal anomalies (ETOPFA) and cases with omphalocele were included.

A graph theory approach to analyze birth defect associations.

Birth defects are prenatal morphological or functional anomalies. Associations among them are studied to identify their etiopathogenesis. The graph theory methods allow analyzing relationships among a complete set of anomalies.

Analysis of Mortality among Neonates and Children with Spina Bifida: An International Registry-Based Study, 2001-2012.

Background: Medical advancements have resulted in better survival and life expectancy among those with spina bifida, but a significantly increased risk of perinatal and postnatal mortality for individuals with spina bifida remains.

Objectives: To examine stillbirth and infant and child mortality among those affected by spina bifida using data from multiple countries.

Methods: We conducted an observational study, using data from 24 population- and hospital-based surveillance registries in 18 countries contributing as members of the International Clearinghouse for Birth Defects Surveillance and Research (ICBDSR).

A consensus statement on birth defects surveillance, prevention, and care in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Birth defects contribute up to 21% of the mortality in those under 5 years of age in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), and that burden has been compounded by the Zika virus epidemic. In 2001, the March of Dimes launched a series of biennial assemblies called the International Conference on Birth Defects and Disabilities in the Developing World (ICBD). The latest ICBD, in 2017, convened in Bogotá, Colombia, and was attended by over 300 professionals, policymakers, and donors.

Limb body wall complex: Its delineation and relationship with amniotic bands using clustering methods.

Background: Despite the numerous reports on the limb body wall complex (LBWC), this association has never been adequately defined. Amniotic bands (AB) are frequently present but their role remains unclear. Since most reports were based on clinical and often subjective diagnoses, the aim of this work was to define LBWC and the role of AB, minimizing subjectivity.

Prevalence of low birth weight in a scenario of economic depression in Argentina.

Introduction: Low birth weight (LBW) is considered a general indicator of health because it is related to complications in the life of a newborn infant and is one of the leading causes of infant mortality. It is a multifactorial indicator, and its determinants include socioeconomic factors.

Objective: To assess the impact of economic inequality on the prevalence of LBW by quantifying its differential effect by maternal age, level of maternal education, and level of care.

Neural tube defects: Sex ratio changes after fortification with folic acid.

Background: Historically, neural tube defects (NTDs) have predominated in female infants but the reasons remain unclear. In South America, the pre- folic acid fortification (FAF) rates of NTDs were around 18/10,000 births for females and 12/10,000 births for males, with an estimated sex ratio (male/female) of 0.67.

Individual deprivation, regional deprivation, and risk for oral clefts in Argentina.

Objective: The aim of this study was to analyze the effects of individual low socioeconomic status (SES) and deprived geographical area (GA) on the occurrence of isolated cleft lip with or without cleft palate (CL±P) in Argentina.

Methods: This case-control study included 577 newborns with isolated CL±P and 13 344 healthy controls, born between 1992 and 2001, from a total population of 546 129 births in 39 hospitals in Argentina. Census data on unsatisfied basic needs were used to establish the degree of geographical area deprivation.

Prevalence and clinical profile of microcephaly in South America pre-Zika, 2005-14: prevalence and case-control study.

 To describe the prevalence and clinical spectrum of microcephaly in South America for the period 2005-14, before the start of the Zika epidemic in 2015, as a baseline for future surveillance as the Zika epidemic spreads and as other infectious causes may emerge in future. Prevalence and case-control study. ECLAMC (Latin American Collaborative Study of Congenital Malformations) database derived from 107 hospitals in 10 South American countries, 2005 to 2014.