Abstract

PREVALENCE OF NEURAL TUBE CLOSURE DEFECTS AND THE ORO-FACIAL CLEFTS, DURING THREE CONSECUTIVE YEARS (2012-2014) IN 20 PUBLIC HOSPITALS IN MOROCCO

Fatima Zahra Laamiri, L. Elammari, M. Mrabet, Y. Taboz, H. Benkirane, K. Lahlou, H. Yahyane, A. Kharbach, A. Ansari Chenguiti, H. Aguenaou and Barkat Amina*

Abstract

Background: Closure of the neural tube defects and orofacial clefts are an important cause of mortality and neonatal morbidity among children. The objective of this work is to produce objective data on the current situation of these birth defects in Morocco. Methods: It is a prospective, multicentric study with duration of 36 months. It was conducted across 20 Morocco public hospitals and it involved neural tube closure defects and orofacial clefts. Results: Five hundred and twenty six (526) malformations were collected from 774 538 (94.55%) live births during the period 2012- 2014. They include the closure of neural tube defects (63%) and oral-facial clefts (37%). The total prevalence of all malformations is 6.79 per 10 000 live births. The most frequent anomalies in our study were as spina bifida, anencephaly and cleft lip and palate respectively prevalence de1.91 / 10 000 2.35 / 10 000), and 1.19 / 10 000 live births. Our results revealed a decrease in annual rates of malformed in general and closed neural tube defects in particular respectively from 8.18 to 4.80 and 5.05 to 3.50 during the period 2012-2014 and a statistically significant differences in the regional distribution of these anomalies. Conclusions: This study can be used to evaluate the national strategy to prevent birth defects. It also provides valuable data on the current situation of these anomalies in our context.

Keywords: Closure of neural tube defects, oral-facial clefts, prevalence, birth defects.