High reported prevalence of congenital anomalies in a Scottish city

The Glasgow Register of Congenital Anomalies reports the highest birth prevalence of congenital anomalies of all 18 participating centers in the EUROCAT project for the years 1980 to 1988. A high prevalence is found in most defect categories, with Glasgow in the top three places in the EUROCAT "league" in 7 of the 10 categories studied. While the high rate could reflect a high level of ascertainment, we have concluded that there is enough reason to be seriously concerned that the high Glasgow rate is a reflection of risk rather than methodology.