Background: Gastroschisis and omphalocele are the most common anterior abdominal wall defects. The aims of our study were to describe the prevalence trends of these congenital anterior abdominal wall defects and to determine the frequency and type of associated congenital anomalies.
Methods:A retrospective, observational study, with data obtained by the Cuban Registries of Congenital Malformations; was conducted in the Cuban province of Villa Clara from 1990 to 2019.Results: A total of 158 cases were identified, 93 of them (59%) with gastroschisis and 53 with omphalocele. An increasing trend in the prevalence rate per 10,000 births of the studied abdominal wall defects over the thirty studied years, from 3.83 in 1990 to 7.47 in 2019, was observed. The prevalence rate of gastroschisis (per 10,000 births) during the study timeframe was twofold those of omphalocele (4.8 and 2.7 respectively). The majority of gastroschisis cases did not have additional anomalies (80/93 [86%]). There was a statistically significant difference between the proportions of isolated and associated cases. (p< 0.01). Omphalocele cases were more likely to be diagnosed with at least one other congenital defect than those with gastroschisis (25/53 [47%] vs. 12/93 [13%].
Conclusions:Arise in anterior abdominal wall defects prevalence has been noted in recent decades in Villa Clara province. The present study revealed that omphalocele cases were more likely to have other congenital defects, predominantly in musculoskeletal and cardiovascular systems, besides chromosomal aberrations. In our study a very high rate of termination of pregnancy is observed among abdominal wall defects cases.