A multi-center study for birth defect monitoring systems in Korea

The aim of this study was to establish a multi-center birth defects monitoring system to evaluate the prevalence and the serial occurrence of birth defects in Korea. Ten medical centers participated in this program. A trained nurse collected relevant records from delivery units and pediatric clinics in participating hospitals on a monthly basis. We observed 1,537 cases of birth defects among 86,622 deliveries, which included live births and stillbirths. The prevalence of birth defects was 1.8%, and the sex distribution of the birth defect cases was 55.2% male and 41.6% female. The highest proportion of birth defects was in the cardiovascular system (17.5%), followed by birth defects involving in the genitourinary system (15.6%). Chromosomal anomalies were detected 30.0 per 10,000 births. Of these chromosomal anomalies, Down syndrome was most frequently observed. This study led to an establishment of a multi-center active monitoring system for birth defects. To better understand the serial occurrence of birth defects in Korea, it is necessary to increase the number of participating hospitals and to launch on a nation-wide multi-center study.