ABSTRACT
Introduction: Congenital hydrocephalus is one of the commonest congenital anomalies of the central nervous system. It is characterized by extensive accumulation of cerebrospinal fluid within the ventricles of the brain due to an imbalance between synthesis and absorption of cerebrospinal fluid. This study was planned to investigate the incidence and associated risk factors of congenital hydrocephalus. Methods: Unmatched case-control study was conducted in 34 (cases) and 104 (controls) pregnant women. Maternal data were collected from a structured questionnaire, and fetal-related data were recorded from obstetric ultrasound. Epi-info 7 and SPSS version 24 were used for data entry and analysis, respectively. The association between congenital hydrocephalus and risk factors was evaluated using binary logistic regression. Results: The incidence of congenital hydrocephalus was 2.67 per 1000 pregnancies. The result of multivariate logistic regression indicated that alcohol use and iron with folic acid supplementation during pregnancy were significantly associated with the development of congenital hydrocephalus (OR: 7.64, 95% CI: 1.97-29.66 and p-value: 0.003 and OR: 0.186, 95% CI: 0.07-0.49 and p-value: 0.001, respectively). Maternal exposure to typhus and typhoid and use of antibiotics during early pregnancy were also significantly associated with congenital hydrocephalus. Moreover, significant association was also observed between the simultaneous development of spina bifida and congenital hydrocephalus (p-value 0.03). Conclusion: In conclusion, alcohol consumption, unprescribed use of antibiotics and infection during pregnancy as well as absence of folic acid supplementation may predispose to congenital hydrocephalus.
ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION: Anencephaly is a form of neural tube defect, which develops when the cranial neuropore is unable to close. It is one of the fatal anomalies of the neural tube. Although most of the causes of anencephaly are unknown, multiple risk factors are associated with this defect. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the incidence and associated risk factors of anencephaly in Dessie town, in the north eastern region of Ethiopia. METHODS: An institution-based unmatched case-control study was conducted. Sociodemographic characteristics of pregnant women were collected with a structured questionnaire and clinical data were recorded during an ultrasound examination. Data were entered into Epi Info 7 and analyzed by SPSS version 20. Binary logistic regression was applied to detect the associations between risk factors and the occurrence of anencephaly. RESULTS: The incidence of anencephaly was 3.3/1000 pregnancies. The multivariate logistic regression model indicated that maternal age between 26 and 30 years and khat chewing during pregnancy were significantly associated with anencephaly (OR 0.13, 95% CI 0.02-0.97, p=0.046; and OR 3.571, 95% CI 1.06-12.06, p=0.04, respectively). Exposure to typhus and typhoid and the use of antihypertensive drugs during early pregnancy were also significantly correlated as anencephaly risk factors. Furthermore, spina bifida simultaneously occurred with anencephaly significantly (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: It is suggested that exposure to risk factors such as khat chewing during pregnancy may predispose to the development of anencephaly.