Decline in infantile hypertrophic pyloric stenosis in Germany in 2000-2008

The incidence of infantile hypertrophic pyloric stenosis (IHPS) is highly variable over time and geographic regions. A decline in IHPS incidence was recently reported in Sweden, the United States, Denmark, and Scotland. In Sweden, the IHPS decline seemed to be concurrent with a declining incidence in sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), which suggested a common cause; the latter was attributed to campaigns against the prone sleeping position. We investigated the time course of the IHPS incidence in all German federal states (N = 16) between 2000 and 2008. We examined correlations between the IHPS incidence and the SIDS incidence.

Data were extracted from the public report of health (Gesundheitsberichterstattung des Bundes). We collected the numbers of IHPS (International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision [ICD-10], code 40.0), SIDS (ICD-10, R95), and live births (LB; male/female) in each federal state for 2000-2008.

The IHPS incidence declined in Germany from 2000 (3.2086/1000 LB [range: 1.67-5.33]) to 2008 (2.0175/1000 LB [1.74-3.72]; P = .005). The recorded incidence was highly variable in different federal states and over time. The SIDS incidence also declined during the same time period (2000, median: 0.759/1000 LB [interquartile range: 0.54-1.029]; 2008, median: 0.416/1000 LB [interquartile range: 0.285-0.6485]; P = .0255). However, the SIDS regional distribution was different from that of IHPS.

The IHPS incidence declined by ∼38% nationwide. A parallel decline in SIDS displayed a different pattern in regional distribution; thus, a common cause was unlikely. The regional differences indicated that etiologic factors remained unresolved.