Congenital malformations in the North-Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo during Civil War
O L Ahuka1, R M Toko, F U Omanga
1Faculty of Medicine, University of Kisangani, Democratic Republic of Congo.
Objective:
To report on changes in the incidence of congenital malformations in a context of an ongoing civil conflict.
Design:
Retrospective study.
Setting:
Centre Médical Evangélique (CME) of Nyankunde, a 250 bed referral hospital, in the North Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) during the period 1993 to 2001.
Subjects:
A total of 8824 babies were delivered alive at our maternity; and 36 of them (0.41%) were born with a clinically diagnosed congenital malformations.
Results:
The breakdown of the observed malformations was as follow: clubbed foot nine, congenital hydrocephalus eight, spina bifida six, cleft lip four, encephalocele two, syndactyly two, imperforated anus two, Anencephaly one, lymphangioma one, bladder exstrophy one. There was a significant increase in the annual incidence of congenital malformations (p<0.001).
Conclusion:
Ongoing civil conflicts or wars ultimately have a negative impact on the incidence of congenital malformations. This is an indirect and multifactorial consequence. We conclude that ongoing civil conflict is a contributing factor to the increasing incidence of congenital malformations seen in the North-Eastern DRC.
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