EUROCAT – EPIDEMIOLOGICAL SURVEILLANCE OF CONGENITAL ANOMALIES IN EUROPE
Abstract
Background. European Surveillance of Congenital Anomalies (EUROCAT) is a network of populationbased congenital anomaly registries in Europe surveying more than 1.5 million births per year, or 29% of the births in the European Union. It has been collecting, analysing, and interpreting birth defects surveillance data since 1979. EUROCAT actively monitors major birth defects among infants born to mothers residents in defined European regions. Cases are ascertained from multiple sources, coded using a British Paediatric Association one digit extension, and reviewed and classified by clinical geneticists that take part in the multidisciplinary staff of the network. Epidemiological data on 95 types of congenital anomaly reported among live births, stillbirths, and terminations of pregnancy after prenatal diagnosis are recorded. EUROCAT is monitoring trends and clusters in birth defects and serves for descriptive, risk factor, and prognostic studies of congenital anomalies, including evaluation of neural tube defects prevention strategies related to the periconceptional use of folic acid supplements, and assessment of the impact of the developments of prenatal diagnosis.
Conclusions. Congenital anomalies continue to be an important cause of morbidity and mortality in infants and children. The studies on the epidemiological characteristics of congenital defects are limited, because they require the analysis of large populations and a well-organised diagnostic network. Introduction of registries of for the surveillance birth defects enables the assessment of the impact of primary prevention and developments in prenatal screening. The registry can serve as an early warning of teratogen exposures, and act as an information centre regarding clusters, and exposures to risk factors of concern.
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