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The aim of this study is to quantify the prevalence and types of rare chromosome abnormalities (RCAs) in Europe for [2000][2001][2002][2003][2004][2005][2006] inclusive, and to describe prenatal diagnosis rates and pregnancy outcome. Data held by the European Surveillance of Congenital Anomalies database were analysed on all the cases from 16 population-based registries in 11 European countries diagnosed prenatally or before 1 year of age, and delivered between 2000 and 2006. Cases were all unbalanced chromosome abnormalities and included live births, fetal deaths from 20 weeks gestation and terminations of pregnancy for fetal anomaly. There were 10 323 cases with a chromosome abnormality, giving a total birth prevalence rate of 43.8/10 000 births. Of these, 7335 cases had trisomy 21,18 or 13, giving individual prevalence rates of 23.0, 5.9 and 2.3/10 000 births, respectively (53, 13 and 5% of all reported chromosome errors, respectively). In all, 473 cases (5%) had a sex chromosome trisomy, and 778 (8%) had 45,X, giving prevalence rates of 2.0 and 3.3/10 000 births, respectively. There were 1 737 RCA cases (17%), giving a prevalence of 7.4/10 000 births. These included triploidy, other trisomies, marker chromosomes, unbalanced translocations, deletions and duplications. There was a wide variation between the registers in both the overall prenatal diagnosis rate of RCA, an average of 65% (range 5-92%) and the prevalence of RCA (range 2.4-12.9/10 000 births). In all, 49% were liveborn. The data provide the prevalence of families currently requiring specialised genetic counselling services in the perinatal period for these conditions and, for some, long-term care.

BACKGROUND: EUROCAT is a network of population-based congenital anomaly registries providing standardized epidemiologic information on congenital anomalies in Europe. There are three types of EUROCAT membership: full, associate, or affiliate. Full member registries send individual records of all congenital anomalies covered by their region. Associate members transmit aggregate case counts for each EUROCAT anomaly subgroup by year and by type of birth. This article describes the organization and activities of each of the current 29 full member and 6 associate member registries of EUROCAT. METHODS: Each registry description provides information on the history and funding of the registry, population coverage including any changes in coverage over time, sources for ascertaining cases of congenital anomalies, and upper age limit for registering cases of congenital anomalies. It also details the legal requirements relating to termination of pregnancy for fetal anomalies, the definition of stillbirths and fetal deaths, and the prenatal screening policy within the registry. Information on availability of exposure information and denominators is provided. The registry description describes how each registry conforms to the laws and guidelines regarding ethics, consent, and confidentiality issues within their own jurisdiction. Finally, information on electronic and web-based data capture, recent registry activities, and publications relating to congenital anomalies, along with the contact details of the registry leader, are provided. CONCLUSIONS: The registry description gives a detailed account of the organizational and operational aspects of each registry and is an invaluable resource that aids interpretation and evaluation of registry prevalence data. Birth Defects Research (Part A) 91:S51-S100, 2011. Ó 2011 Wiley-Liss, Inc.Key words: congenital anomaly registries; population-based; ascertainment; organization; Europe AUSTRIA, STYRIA -FULL MEMBER History and FundingThe registry was set up in 1986 after the Chernobyl disaster. It registers fetuses/babies with congenital anomalies born after January 1, 1985. The registry has been a member of EUROCAT since 1995. It is funded by research grants provided by the Styrian Government on an annual basis. Population CoverageThe registry covers all births to residents of the province of Styria (population-based I 5 all mothers resident in defined geographic area), which amounts to a total of approximately 10,000 births annually. See Table 1 for coverage of European birth populations. Sources of AscertainmentPediatric cardiology centers supply systematic case lists and diagnostic details to the registry.There is one central cytogenetic laboratory in Styria that covers the whole population and provides a list of all abnormal prenatal and neonatal karyotypes annually. The registry has no direct electronic link to cytogenetics, but has close contact almost every day. So the local cytogenetic database can be used easily, although indirectly.The registry operates as a research program w...

Background: A recent meta-analysis suggested evidence for an effect of exposure to ambient air pollutants on risk of certain congenital heart defects. However, few studies have investigated the effects of traffic-related air pollutants with sufficient spatial accuracy.Objectives: We estimated associations between congenital anomalies and exposure to traffic-related air pollution in Barcelona, Spain.Method: Cases with nonchromosomal anomalies (n = 2,247) and controls (n = 2,991) were selected from the Barcelona congenital anomaly register during 1994–2006. Land use regression models from the European Study of Cohorts for Air Pollution Effects (ESCAPE), were applied to residential addresses at birth to estimate spatial exposure to nitrogen oxides and dioxide (NOx, NO2), particulate matter with diameter ≤ 10 μm (PM10), 10–2.5 μm (PMcoarse), ≤ 2.5 μm (PM2.5), and PM2.5 absorbance. Spatial estimates were adjusted for temporal trends using data from routine monitoring stations for weeks 3–8 of each pregnancy. Logistic regression models were used to calculate odds ratios (ORs) for 18 congenital anomaly groups associated with an interquartile-range (IQR) increase in exposure estimates.Results: In spatial and spatiotemporal exposure models, we estimated statistically significant associations between an IQR increase in NO2 (12.2 μg/m3) and coarctation of the aorta (ORspatiotemporal = 1.15; 95% CI: 1.01, 1.31) and digestive system defects (ORspatiotemporal = 1.11; 95% CI: 1.00, 1.23), and between an IQR increase in PMcoarse (3.6 μg/m3) and abdominal wall defects (ORspatiotemporal = 1.93; 95% CI: 1.37, 2.73). Other statistically significant increased and decreased ORs were estimated based on the spatial model only or the spatiotemporal model only, but not both.Conclusions: Our results overall do not indicate an association between traffic-related air pollution and most groups of congenital anomalies. Findings for coarctation of the aorta are consistent with those of the previous meta-analysis.Citation: Schembari A, Nieuwenhuijsen MJ, Salvador J, de Nazelle A, Cirach M, Dadvand P, Beelen R, Hoek G, Basagaña X, Vrijheid M. 2014. Traffic-related air pollution and congenital anomalies in Barcelona. Environ Health Perspect 122:317–323; http://dx.doi.org/10.1289/ehp.1306802

SUMMARY: We use hydrographic, velocity and drifter data from a cruise carried out in November 2008 to describe the continental slope current system in the upper thermocline (down to 600 m) between Cape Verde and the Canary Islands. The major feature in the region is the Cape Verde Frontal Zone (CVFZ), separating waters from tropical (southern) and subtropical (northern) origin. The CVFZ is found to intersect the slope north of Cape Blanc, between 22°N and 23°N, but we find that southern waters are predominant over the slope as far north as 24°N. South of Cape Blanc (21.25°N) the Poleward Undercurrent (PUC) is a prominent northward jet (50 km wide), reaching down to 300 m and indistinguishable from the surface Mauritanian Current. North of Cape Blanc the upwelling front is found far offshore, opening a near-slope northward path to the PUC. Nevertheless, the northward PUC transport decreases from 2.8 Sv at 18°N to 1.7 Sv at 24°N, with about 1 Sv recirculating ofshore just south of Cape Blanc, in agreement with the trajectory of subsurface drifters. South of the CVFZ there is an abrupt thermohaline transition at s q =26.85 kg m -3 , which indicates the lower limit of the relatively pure (low salt and high oxygen content) South Atlantic Central Water (SACW) variety that coexists with the dominant locallydiluted (salinity increases through mixing with North Atlantic Central Water but oxygen diminishes because of enhanced remineralization) Cape Verde (SACWcv) variety. At 16°N about 70% of the PUC transport corresponds to the SACW variety but but this is transformed into 40% SACWcv at 24°N. However, between Cape Verde and Cape Blanc and in the 26.85

This study found no evidence of a temporal trend in the prevalence of SIA, duodenal atresia or JIA, although SIA and duodenal atresia prevalence varied significantly between registers.

Exposure to tobacco during pregnancy is an important risk factor for infant health. Recently the prevalence of smoking during pregnancy has declined in our area. The objective of this study was to analyse the association between several social variables and the fetal exposure to smoking, as well as the association between maternal smoking and some adverse gestational outcomes. Data collection was cross-sectional. The study population were women in the city of Barcelona (Catalonia, Spain) delivering a child without birth defects. The sample corresponded to the controls of the Birth Defects Registry of Barcelona, 2% of all pregnancy deliveries in the city from 1994 to 2003 (n = 2297). Information sources were hospital records and a personal interview of mothers. The analysis measured first the association between independent variables (instruction level, social class, occupation, nationality, planned pregnancy, parity, hospital funding and smoking status of the mother's partner) with two dependent variables: smoking at the initiation of pregnancy and quitting during pregnancy. Second, the persistence of smoking over pregnancy and all independent variables were studied with three variables indicating adverse outcomes of pregnancy: low gestation, low birthweight and intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR). Finally, the joint association between the persistence of smoking over pregnancy and social class taken as independent variables was determined with the three variables indicating adverse outcomes of pregnancy. Logistic regression models were fitted, adjusting for maternal age. Results are presented as odds ratios with their 95% confidence intervals. The prevalence of smoking at the onset of gestation was 41%, and 40% of these women quit during pregnancy, so that 25% delivered as active smokers. Fewer women with higher educational levels and from families with non-manual jobs smoked, as did immigrants, those planning pregnancy and women whose partner did not smoke. Smoking immigrants quit more frequently than nationals, as did those planning pregnancy, primiparae, and women whose partner did not smoke. Low gestation, low birthweight and IUGR were more frequent among smokers and women with a manual occupation, but manual occupation lost its significance when adjusting for smoking. The association between smoking and adverse results was higher for IUGR. In conclusion, the prevalence of smoking and quitting during pregnancy varied according to social factors. The influence of social factors on the outcome of pregnancy was mediated strongly by smoking in a country that provides access to health care free of cost. A priority in reducing inequalities in health is to help women from manual work backgrounds quit smoking.

Pregnancy planning allows women to better control their life trajectory and contributes to the future child's health and development. Many studies that have analyzed socioeconomic inequalities in unintended pregnancy only took into account those pregnancies ending in births. Few of them that analyzed unintended pregnancy, including both induced abortion and births, and its socioeconomic determinants, concluded that unintended pregnancy is more frequent in young, poor, or unmarried women. These inequalities have been poorly studied in Europe, especially in the southern European context. The aim of the present study is to describe socioeconomic inequalities in unintended pregnancy and in abortion decision in Barcelona, Spain. The major findings are that unintended pregnancies accounted for 41% of total pregnancy and of these, 60% ended in abortion. From all pregnancies, the proportion of induced abortion reached 25.6%. Compared to women with university studies, those with primary education uncompleted had more unintended pregnancies (OR=7.22). When facing an unintended pregnancy, women of lower socioeconomic position are more likely to choose induced abortion, although this is not the case among young or single women. This study reveals deep socioeconomic inequalities in unintended pregnancies and abortion decision in Barcelona, Spain, where the birth rate is very low and the abortion rate is rising. Women in low socioeconomic positions have many more unintended pregnancies than better educated women. Except for young or single women, the lower the socioeconomic position, the higher the proportion of women who choose an induced abortion when facing an unintended pregnancy.