[Incidence of 50 congenital malformations in 8 Chilean maternities participating in the Latin American Study of Congenital Malformations (ECLAMC). 1982-1988].

The incidence of 50 congenital malformations detected among 106,457 consecutive deliveries, in 8 chilean maternities participating in ECLAMC (Latin American Study for Congenital Malformations) is presented. The global incidence of congenital malformations was 2.97 for every 100 newborn infants. 2.92% in live borns and 8.54% in stillborns respectively. The mortality among the whole live borns of this series was of 0.93%. The incidence of congenital malformations in chilean maternities was compared with the rest of ECLAMC and significant differences were found in many of them, being higher in some problems where more complex diagnostic methods are required and were available, as is the case with congenital heart disease (23.85% vs. 9.72%) and renal agenesia (2.07% vs. 0.6%). In other types of more obvious abnormalities there were differences which could be eventually attributable to genetic or environmental factors.