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Secular trends in the incidence of major malformations of the central nervous system reported from three Dublin maternity hospitals, 1900–1965

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Summary

Available data of secular trends in the incidence of major malformations of the central nervous system reported from three Dublin maternity hospitals were analysed based on 476,459 (live and still) births, 1,532 cases of anencephalus, 995 of spina bifida and 879 of hydrocephalus observed during the period 1900–65. In Dublin the incidence of anencephalus has increased so that this malformation is more common today than at the beginning of the century; this also was found for spina bifida and trends in the incidence of the two defects were similar. There was a peak in the spina bifida rate in 1916–17 and peaks in the incidence of both defects combined in 1940–41 and 1960–61. The incidence of hydrocephalus has not changed markedly since 1900 but the highest rate occurred in 1940–41.

The periods of the First and Second World Wars and of the 1918–19 influenza pandemic were not associated with any definite rise in the incidence of these neural tube defects and rates actually declined duri-ng the war years 1942–45.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, Queen’s University, Belfast

    J. H. Elwood

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  1. J. H. Elwood
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Elwood, J.H. Secular trends in the incidence of major malformations of the central nervous system reported from three Dublin maternity hospitals, 1900–1965. Ir J Med Sci 142, 346–357 (1973). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02950032

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