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. 2022 Dec 1;114(20):1417-1426.
doi: 10.1002/bdr2.2122. Epub 2022 Nov 11.

Prevalence of vascular disruption anomalies and association with young maternal age: A EUROCAT study to compare the United Kingdom with other European countries

Joan K Morris  1 , Diana Wellesley  2 , Elizabeth Limb  1 , Jorieke E H Bergman  3 , Agnieszka Kinsner-Ovaskainen  4 , Marie Claude Addor  5 , Jennifer M Broughan  6 , Clara Cavero-Carbonell  7 , Carlos M Dias  8 , Luis-Javier Echevarría-González-de-Garibay  9 , Miriam Gatt  10 , Martin Haeusler  11 , Ingeborg Barisic  12 , Kari Klungsoyr  13   14 , Nathalie Lelong  15 , Anna Materna-Kiryluk  16 , Amanda Neville  17 , Vera Nelen  18 , Mary T O'Mahony  19 , Isabelle Perthus  20 , Anna Pierini  21   22 , Judith Rankin  23 , Anke Rissmann  24 , Florence Rouget  25 , Geraldine Sayers  26 , Sarah Stevens  6 , David Tucker  27 , Ester Garne  28
Affiliations

Prevalence of vascular disruption anomalies and association with young maternal age: A EUROCAT study to compare the United Kingdom with other European countries

Joan K Morris et al. Birth Defects Res. .

Abstract

Background: Younger mothers are at a greater risk of having a pregnancy with gastroschisis and the risk is higher in the United Kingdom than other European countries. Gastroschisis is thought to be a vascular disruption anomaly and the aim of this study was to analyze the prevalence of other possible vascular disruption anomalies to determine whether both the younger maternal age and the UK associations also occur with these anomalies.

Methods: All pregnancies with anomalies considered potentially due to vascular disruption from January 1, 2005 to December 31, 2017 from 26 European population-based congenital anomaly registries who were members of EUROCAT were analyzed. Multilevel models were used to allow for differences between registries when analyzing associations with maternal age, year of birth and whether the registry was in the United Kingdom.

Results: There were 5,220 cases with potential vascular disruption anomalies, excluding chromosomal and genetic conditions, with a prevalence of 8.85 per 10,000 births in the United Kingdom and 5.44 in the other European countries. The prevalence per 10,000 births of gastroschisis (4.45 vs. 1.56) and congenital constriction bands (0.83 vs. 0.42) was significantly higher in the United Kingdom, even after adjusting for maternal age. However, transverse limb reduction defects had a similar prevalence (2.16 vs. 2.14 per 10,000). The expected increased prevalence in younger mothers was observed for vascular disruption anomalies overall and for the individual anomalies: gastroschisis and congenital constriction bands.

Conclusion: Vascular disruption anomalies that had an increased risk for younger mothers (such as gastroschisis) had a higher maternal age standardized prevalence in the United Kingdom, while vascular disruption anomalies with weaker associations with younger mothers (such as transverse limb reduction defects) did not have an increased prevalence in the United Kingdom, which may indicate a different etiology for these anomalies.

Keywords: anomalies; congenital; disruption; surveillance; vascular.

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Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Prevalence of vascular disruption in EUROCAT registries (2005–2017) with 95% CIs
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Prevalence of vascular disruption in EUROCAT registries from 2005 to 2017 (adjusted for registry) with 95% CIs
FIGURE 3
FIGURE 3
Prevalence of vascular disruption including gastroschisis, gastroschisis only and vascular disruption excluding gastroschisis according to maternal age and whether born in the United Kingdom or in other European countries (adjusted for registry) with 95% CIs
FIGURE 4
FIGURE 4
Prevalence of small intestinal atresia and transverse limb reduction defects according to maternal age and whether born in the United Kingdom or in other European countries (adjusted for registry) with 95% CIs
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Comment in

  • The pathogenesis of gastroschisis.
    Feldkamp ML, Carey JC. Feldkamp ML, et al. Birth Defects Res. 2023 Mar 15;115(5):515-516. doi: 10.1002/bdr2.2140. Epub 2022 Dec 21. Birth Defects Res. 2023. PMID: 36541834 No abstract available.

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