Clinical Profile of Women with Congenital Fetal Malformations: A Retrospective Cohort Study

Abstract

Background Though this is an era of imaging, many women with fetal congenital malformations are presenting beyond 20 weeks of pregnancy posing problems in decision making. This study was undertaken to determine the prevalence of congenital fetal malformations presenting to tertiary health care and to analyse the gestational age at presentation and spectrum of malformations and the clinical and socio-demographic factors. Material and Methods This was a retrospective analysis of hospitalised women with diagnosis of congenital fetal malformations (CFM) from January 2017 to December 2017. The data was retrieved from Medical Records Section after due permissions and analysed with respect to socio-demographic status, age, consanguinity, type of congenital anomaly and gestational age at presentation. Results The prevalence of CFM was 1.56%. The majority (64%) of CFM were detected during the second trimester and 27% were detected in the 3rd trimester. The most common anomalies were CNS followed by multiple anomalies and 72% and 65% of them were live born respectively. The majority (90%) belonged to lower middle socioeconomic group and were from rural background (82%). The majority of women were less than 30 years of age (77.6%) and 38% were primigravidae. Consanguinity was present in 34%, medical disorders were associated in 29% and 3% had family history of congenital fetal anomalies. ConclusionThe most common anomalies were CNS and majority were primigravidae. The most common medical disorder associated was diabetes. It is possible that they are deficient in folic acid and vitamin B12. Hence pre-conceptional control of medical disorders, nutritional counselling regarding intake of micronutrients and awareness programmes to take pre-conceptional folic acid and vitamin B12 are the need of the hour for prevention.