Babies born with a hole between the two smaller chambers of the heart, known as atrial septal defect, or with other heart and circulatory conditions accounted for a third of the 139,100 hospital admissions for birth defects in 2004, according to the News and Numbers from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.
Digestive problems such as Pyloric stenosis accounted for nearly 29,000 admissions, or about 19 percent of all birth defect cases. Pyloric Stenosis is a condition that causes severe vomiting in the first few months of life. There is narrowing (stenosis) of the opening from the stomach to the intestines, due to enlargement of the muscle surrounding this opening, which spasms when the stomach empties. It is uncertain whether there is a real congenital narrowing or whether there is a functional hypertrophy (enlargement) of the muscle which develops in the first few weeks of life. Males are more commonly affected than females, with firstborn males affected about four times as often, and there is a genetic predisposition for the disease. Pyloric stenosis is more common in whites than Hispanics, African Americans, or Asians. The incidence is 2.4 per 1000 live births in whites, 1.8 in Hispanics, 0.7 in African Americans, and 0.6 in Asians. Caucasian babies with blood type B or O are more likely than other types to be affected.
In additon, Genitourinary birth defects accounted for 9 percent and nervous system birth defects 5 percent. The remaining 34 percent of birth defects included problems such as cleft palate, hip deformity, sunken chest, skull and facial bone defects, spinal deformity, and foot deformities.
Between 1997 and 2004, hospital rates increased by over 25 percent for heart and circulatory birth defects and digestive birth defects.
Hospitals spent $2.6 billion treating birth defects. Half the cost was for heart and circulatory congenital problems.
Although most birth defects are found within the first year of life, others may not be discovered or treated until adulthood. Some birth defects result in debilitating illness or death at a very young age, while others may be successfully treated with surgery or other treatments.
Source: www.ahrq.gov, 01-21-07
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