Introduction:

The data regarding birth defects at local levels in developing countries like Colombia are scarce.

Objective:

To describe the profile of congenital abnormalities in the province of Risaralda, Colombia.

Materials and methods:

We included the information on infants with structural and functional abnormalities at birth between June, 2010, and December, 2013, from records of the Instituto Nacional de Salud, and compared it with those of children born in the same period in a local clinic participating in the Collaborative Study of Congenital Malformations. We analyzed the data using Stata 10(r).

Results:

We found a prevalence of nine defects per 1,000 newborns from the total live births in Risaralda. The local clinic registered in the Collaborative Study of Congenital Malformations registered a prevalence of 34 defects per 1,000 births. Most frequent defects were heart defects, followed by cleft lip and palate, abdominal wall defects, skeletal dysplasia, hydrocephalus, polydactyly and Down syndrome.

Conclusions:

Having a baseline on the prevalence of congenital defects in Risaralda is very useful in the design of prevention policies oriented to decrease congenital defects incidence and severity. Inclusion of maternity hospitals in the Collaborative Study of Congenital Malformations strengthens national recording and reporting of birth defects.

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