WHAT PROPORTION OF CONGENITAL-ABNORMALITIES CAN BE PREVENTED

Objective-To estimate the proportion of preventable congenital abnormalities i Design-Analysis of available Hungarian databases and of the effectiveness of primary, secondary, and tertiary preventive methods. Setting-Databases of ad hoc epidemiological studies and of the Hungarian congenital abnormality registry. Main outcome measures-Prevalence at birth and prevalence after prevention in 73 congenital abnormality types or groups. Results-Preventive methods are available for 51 (70%) of the 73 congenital abnormality types or groups evaluated. The birth prevalence of all congenital abnormalities could be reduced from 65 to 26 per 1000; thus 39 per 1000 (60%) are preventable. Without congenital dislocation of the hip, which is unusually common in Hungary, the preventable proportion of congenital abnormalities is 52%. Conclusion-Many congenital abnormalities can be prevented, but as they do not represent a single pathological category there is no single strategy for their prevention.