[Problem of the prevalence of congenital malformations].

Birth-histories and files of 42,275 newborn infants, ambulatory outpatient files of 38,280 children aged between 6 days and 15 years, and also findings of 4,153 autopsies were studied. The study was conducted for the years 1979-87. It was found that on the whole the incidence of congenital malformations (CM) in children 0-15 years old was 2.83 percent, last three years this indicator being 3.27 percent. Among stillborns the proportion of CM was 10.2 percent, among newborns--13.8 per 1,000 and for the last three years it rose up to 18.2. The leading congenital defects in newborn infants, according to prevalence, were malformations of organs of movement, abdominal wall and gastrointestinal tract, malformations of cardiovascular system. The analysis of CM structure among dead children indicated that the most prevalent were malformations of the central nervous system and also two last above-mentioned groups. The majority of children with CM among the dead were children of the first year of life. Proceeding from these findings the principal ways of CM prevention were suggested and main risk groups with regard to birth defects were identified.