A case-control study was conducted to investigate the risk factors of congenital heart disease (CHD). The cases were 346 children with CHD who were admitted to a university hospital in Tehran from 1995 to 2000 and controls (n=346) were randomly selected from children without CHD who were admitted during the same period. The medical records of both cases and controls were reviewed. Ten risk factors were studied and found to be more prevalent among cases (47%) than controls (35%, p < 0.005). Extracardiac malformations (OR, 31.1; CI95, 15.9-60.9; p < 0.001) and chromosomal abnormalities (OR, 34.05; CI95, 23.3-49.8; p < 0.001) were significant risk factors for CHD. Dysmorphic syndromes (p < 0.05) and CHD in siblings (p < 0.001) were also significant risk factors. Maternal illness and drug use in the first trimester of pregnancy, maternal history of previous abortions and stillbirths, parental consanguinity, and parental cardiac lesions were not significant risk factors for CHD in offspring. Results suggest that genetic factors more than environmental or reproductive factors can increase the occurrence of cardiac defects.

BackgroundThe aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of cleft sidedness, and the number of congenitally missing teeth in regard to cleft type and gender.MethodsThe charts, models, radiographs, and intraoral photographs of 201 cleft patients including 131 males with the mean age of 12.3 ± 4 years and 70 females with the mean age of 12.6 ± 3.9 years were used for the study. T test, Chi-square, and binomial tests were used for assessment of the data.Results and conclusionsOne hundred forty-eight of the subjects suffered from cleft lip and palate followed by 41 subjects who suffered from cleft lip and alveolus. Chi-square test did not show any significant difference between the genders. Binomial test showed that left-sided cleft was more predominant in unilateral cleft lip and palate patients (P < 0.001). This study also showed that the upper lateral incisors were the most commonly missing teeth in the cleft area.

Background. Widespread use of the IOTN along with detailed study of occlusal traits is suitable for planning community dental health resources. Objectives. The aim of current study was to assess the need for orthodontic treatment among school children of Tehran by means of the Dental Health Component (DHC) of the Index of Orthodontic Treatment Need (IOTN) and also to evaluate the occlusal traits of the subjects. Methods. 684 (343 boys and 341 girls) school children, 15 to 17 years of age, were selected at random from 12 schools to represent the four main areas of Tehran. The final sample who met the inclusion criteria comprised 643 subjects (322 males and 321 females). Malocclusion was determined with the Index of Orthodontic Treatment Need. The IOTN grades were statistically compared in the two genders using chi-square test. Results. Orthodontic treatment need, using the DHC, was found in only 9.0 per cent of the children. The prevalence of Angle Class I malocclusion in this study was higher than other malocclusions (65.2 per cent), followed by crowding in 62.7 per cent of the subjects. Conclusion. Orthodontic treatment need for Tehran high school students was relatively lower than that reported in most recent studies in Europe.