Port Moresby General Hospital, Port Moresby, National Capital District, Papua New Guinea.
Paediatrics, Rabaul Provincial Hospital, Rabaul, East New Britain, Papua New Guinea.
Arch Dis Child. 2024 Aug 16;109(9):702-706. doi: 10.1136/archdischild-2024-327200.
Globally, birth defects are the fourth most common cause of neonatal mortality. They cause substantial morbidity, and often long-term disability. Despite this, the impact of birth defects on public health has received little attention in low- and middle-income countries.
To report the types, incidence and geographic distribution of birth defects in the East New Britain Province of Papua New Guinea.
Data were collected over 3 years on newborns with birth defects seen at Rabaul Hospital, born anywhere in the province. Each affected newborn was examined, the anomaly diagnosed and classified. The exact home location was recorded to understand geospatial distribution. To calculate incidence, data were collected on all newborns with a congenital anomaly in a cohort of 2000 consecutive live births at Rabaul Hospital in 2019.
Over 3 years, 2018-2020, 137 newborns with birth defects were identified, born in any part of the province. Congenital heart defects, hydrocephalus, microcephaly, craniofacial anomalies, imperforate anus, trachea-oesophageal fistula and diaphragmatic hernia were the most common anomalies. Eight cases of Down syndrome and other chromosomal anomalies were identified. The incidence in 2019 was 14 per 1000 live births. Geographic mapping showed the highest number of cases in the region on the Gazelle Peninsula, the area around the active volcanos.
This study provides insights into the incidence and types of birth defects in a rural island province and showed it was possible to map geospatial distribution to further explore epidemiology.
在全球范围内，出生缺陷是导致新生儿死亡的第四大常见原因。它们会导致大量的发病和长期残疾。尽管如此，出生缺陷对中低收入国家公共卫生的影响却很少受到关注。
报告巴布亚新几内亚东新不列颠省的出生缺陷类型、发生率和地理分布情况。
在 3 年的时间里，收集了在拉包尔医院就诊的、省内任何地方出生的患有出生缺陷的新生儿的数据。对每个受影响的新生儿进行检查，诊断和分类异常。准确记录其家庭住址，以了解地理空间分布情况。为了计算发生率，在 2019 年，对拉包尔医院 2000 例连续活产新生儿中的先天性异常病例进行了数据收集。
在 2018-2020 年的 3 年中，共发现 137 例患有出生缺陷的新生儿，这些新生儿来自该省的任何地方。先天性心脏病、脑积水、小头畸形、颅面畸形、肛门闭锁、气管食管瘘和膈疝是最常见的异常。还发现了 8 例唐氏综合征和其他染色体异常病例。2019 年的发生率为每 1000 例活产儿中有 14 例。地理绘图显示，在 Gazelle 半岛（活跃火山周围）地区的病例数量最多。
本研究提供了关于农村岛屿省份出生缺陷发生率和类型的见解，并表明有可能对地理空间分布进行绘图，以进一步探讨其流行病学。
