[Evolution of prevalence rates of orofacial clefts in a maternity of a Chilean clinical hospital].

Background: Orofacial clefts are common and have a great medical and social importance. The Latin American Study of Congenital Malformations (ECLAMC), has maintained an epidemiological surveillance of congenital malformations since 1969, allowing the evaluation of trends in the prevalence of malformations.

Aim: To evaluate the evolution curve of prevalence rates of orofacial clefts from 1971 to 2008.

Material And Methods: All cases of orofacial clefts, occurring in newborns from the maternity of a university hospital from January 2000 to December 2008, were recorded as part of the ECLAMC. Historical information about the rates of the malformation between 1971 and 1999, was obtained from previous manuscripts of the authors.

Results: In the study period, 15,635 children were born and 46 had cleft lip-palate (3). This rate is significantly higher than those observed previously, that fluctuated between 1.5 and 1.7. The prevalence rates of cleft lip remained stable from 1971 to 1999 and suffered a brisk and significant rise in the period 2000-2008 When the period is analyzed year by year, the increase in rates is observed in the last two years. The rates of cleft palate suffered a slight non significant rise until 2000.

Conclusions: The increased rates of cleft lip palate observed in the last two years of the observation period may be a random result and should be monitored in the future.