Major birth defects among infants with Down's syndrome in Alexandria, Egypt (1995-2000)

Abstract

A case-control study of 514 infants with confirmed Down's syndrome (DS) was carried out during the period 1 July 1995-30 June 2000 to investigate the risk factors for the occurrence of congenital anomalies among DS cases. Our results showed that the significant risk factors for developing any type of congenital anomalies among DS were: parental consanguinity, grand-maternal consanguinity, use of antibiotics, use of oral contraceptive pills, diabetes mellitus, and maternal fever. The inter-action between trisomy 21 genes and consanguinity and/or environmental factors can increase the risk of several additional birth defects.