TY - JOUR
T1 - Prevalence of Microcephaly in Europe: A Population based study
AU - Morris, Joan
AU - Rankin, Judith
AU - Garne, Ester
AU - Loane, Maria
AU - Greenlees, Ruth
AU - Addor, Marie-Claude
AU - Arriola, Larraitz
AU - Barisic, Ingeborg
AU - Bergman, Jorieke
AU - Csaky-Szunyogh, Melinda
AU - Dias, Carlos
AU - Draper, Elizabeth
AU - Gatt, Miriam
AU - Khoshnood, Babak
AU - Klunysoyr, Kari
AU - Kurinczuk, Jennifer
AU - Lynch, Catherine
AU - McDonnell, Robert
AU - Nelen, Vera
AU - Neville, Amanda
AU - O'Mahony, Mary
AU - Pierini, Anna
AU - Randrianaivo, Hanitra
AU - Rissmann, Anke
AU - Tucker, David
AU - Verellun-Dumoulin, Christine
AU - de Walle, Hermien
AU - Wellesley, Diana
AU - Wiesel, Awi
AU - Dolk, Helen
PY - 2016/9/13
Y1 - 2016/9/13
N2 - AbstractObjectivesMicrocephaly is a congenital anomaly where the baby’s head is smaller than expected when compared with babies of the same sex, age and ethnicity. Many of these babies will have underdeveloped brains. This study aimed to provide contemporary estimates of the prevalence of microcephaly in Europe, determine if the diagnosis of microcephaly is consistent across Europe and to evaluate whether changes in prevalence would be detected using the current European surveillance performed by EUROCAT (the European Surveillance of Congenital Anomalies).DesignA questionnaire and a population-based, observational study Setting 24 EUROCAT registries covering 570,000 births annually in 15 countries. Participants2443 cases of microcephaly not associated with a genetic condition, among live births, fetal deaths from 20 weeks gestational age and terminations of pregnancy for fetal anomaly at any gestation. Main Outcome MeasuresPrevalence of microcephaly (1st Jan 2003- 31st Dec 2012) analysed using random effects Poisson regression models to account for heterogeneity across registries.ResultsSixteen registries responded to the questionnaire of whom 44% (7/16) used the EUROCAT definition of microcephaly (a reduction in the size of the brain with a skull circumference more than 3 standard deviations (SD) below the mean for sex, age and ethnic origin), 19% (3/16) used a 2 SD cut-off, 31% (5/16) were reliant on the criteria used by individual clinicians and one registry changed criteria between 2003 and 2012.Prevalence of microcephaly in Europe was 1.53 (95% CI : 1.16-1.96) per 10,000 births with registries varying from 0.4 (95% CI : 0.2-0.7) to 4.3 (95% CI : 3.8-4.8) per 10,000 (Chi-squared =338 with 23 degrees of freedom, I2 = 93%). Registries with the 3 SD cut-off reported a prevalence of 1.74 per 10,000 (95% CI: 0.86-2.93) compared with those with the less stringent 2 SD cut-off of 1.21 per 10,000 (95% CI: 0.21-2.93).The prevalence of microcephaly would need to increase in 1 year by over 35% in Europe or by over 300% in a single registry to reach statistical significance (p
AB - AbstractObjectivesMicrocephaly is a congenital anomaly where the baby’s head is smaller than expected when compared with babies of the same sex, age and ethnicity. Many of these babies will have underdeveloped brains. This study aimed to provide contemporary estimates of the prevalence of microcephaly in Europe, determine if the diagnosis of microcephaly is consistent across Europe and to evaluate whether changes in prevalence would be detected using the current European surveillance performed by EUROCAT (the European Surveillance of Congenital Anomalies).DesignA questionnaire and a population-based, observational study Setting 24 EUROCAT registries covering 570,000 births annually in 15 countries. Participants2443 cases of microcephaly not associated with a genetic condition, among live births, fetal deaths from 20 weeks gestational age and terminations of pregnancy for fetal anomaly at any gestation. Main Outcome MeasuresPrevalence of microcephaly (1st Jan 2003- 31st Dec 2012) analysed using random effects Poisson regression models to account for heterogeneity across registries.ResultsSixteen registries responded to the questionnaire of whom 44% (7/16) used the EUROCAT definition of microcephaly (a reduction in the size of the brain with a skull circumference more than 3 standard deviations (SD) below the mean for sex, age and ethnic origin), 19% (3/16) used a 2 SD cut-off, 31% (5/16) were reliant on the criteria used by individual clinicians and one registry changed criteria between 2003 and 2012.Prevalence of microcephaly in Europe was 1.53 (95% CI : 1.16-1.96) per 10,000 births with registries varying from 0.4 (95% CI : 0.2-0.7) to 4.3 (95% CI : 3.8-4.8) per 10,000 (Chi-squared =338 with 23 degrees of freedom, I2 = 93%). Registries with the 3 SD cut-off reported a prevalence of 1.74 per 10,000 (95% CI: 0.86-2.93) compared with those with the less stringent 2 SD cut-off of 1.21 per 10,000 (95% CI: 0.21-2.93).The prevalence of microcephaly would need to increase in 1 year by over 35% in Europe or by over 300% in a single registry to reach statistical significance (p
KW - Microcephaly
KW - EUROCAT
KW - Prevalence
U2 - 10.1136/bmj.i4721
DO - 10.1136/bmj.i4721
M3 - Article
VL - 354
SP - 1
EP - 6
JO - BMJ
JF - BMJ
SN - 0959-8138
ER -