Abstract

DELGADO DIAZ, Olga Lidia et al. Induced abortions due to congenital malformations. Rev Cubana Med Gen Integr [online]. 2007, vol.23, n.2. ISSN 0864-2125.

Cuba has a very effective surveillance system of congenital malformations, based on their prenatal diagnosis by different methods. Cases of defects diagnosed at birth, and of induced abortions as a result of these malformations are reported in Cuba every year. For these reasons, the present research was made. An observational cross-sectional study was conducted to attain a clinical and epidemiological characterization of the 270 induced abortions caused by congenital malformations in Havana province from January 2000 to June 2003. During this period, it was observed an increase of 17.9 % of the induced abortions due to congenital malformations, with an average rate of 0.91 x 10 000 births and an annual increase mean of 5.9 %. 40.9 % of the pregnancies with malformations were interrupted. Of the total of induced abortions, 25.9 % corresponded to defects of the central nervous system, followed by malformations of the cardiovascular (16.9) and renal (11.9) systems. The highest rates of adjusted prevalence corresponded to induced abortions due to malformations of the nervous system, the cardiovascular system, and the chromosomal malformations. This study showed that the values of induced abortions because of congenital defects in the region do not differ from the ones collected at the national and international level. It was also confirmed that the program of prenatal diagnosis of congenital malformations in the province made posible to prevent a high percent of them.

Keywords : Induced abortions; congenital malformations; prevalence.