A rare genetic defect that causes infants to be born with their intestines and possibly other organs protruding through an opening in their abdominal wall is on the rise, and doctors are unsure why, according to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report released Friday.
The condition is known as gastroschisis, and as the Philadelphia Daily News explained, newborn babies born with the defect require immediate surgery. In most cases, the procedure is successful and the babies do well, but the increased prevalence of the ailment has the CDC concerned.
According to the Washington Post, the agency’s study indicated that the number of gastroschisis cases reported between 2006 and 2012 were 30 percent higher than those reported between 1995 and 2005. The rate more than doubled among African American mothers under the age of 20.
However, in their report, CDC scientists noted that the observed increases could not be explained by demographic changes in maternal age or race. Smoking, low pre-birth weight and illegal drug or alcohol use have been linked to gastroschisis, but it remains unclear if any of those factors are to blame for the increased prevalence of the condition.
In a statement, Dr. Coleen Boyle, director of the CDC’s National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities, said that she and her colleagues were concerned by the findings and that research was “urgently needed” to determine why more infants were being affected.
Cause uncertain, but experts emphasize the importance of prenatal care
While surgery can allow doctors to place the organs back within the baby’s body and repair the stomach wall, babies born with gastroschisis often still have difficulties eating or digesting food, and in some instances, the condition can be life threatening due to post-procedure infection.
As part of their research, the CDC collected data from 14 states and compared the prevalence of the condition among babies born to mothers of different ages and races from 1995 and 2005, and those born between 2006 and 2012. They found that gastroschisis was most common in teenage mothers and in young African-American women.
Overall, the condition remains rare, with about 2,000 US babies being born with gastroschisis each year, but the number of infants suffering from the defect increased among mothers of all ages and ethnicities. The increase in gastroschisis births among teen mothers came despite an overall decline in the number of live births among women under 20, the CDC added.
“The concerning part of this is the inexorable rise in gastroschisis going back to the 1970s,” Dr. Edward McCabe, senior vice president and chief medical officer at the March of Dimes, told the Daily News. “When you see something rising as fast as this is in all population groups, and in all ages, it tells you something serious is going on. We need to try and figure out what it is.”
Is there anything a mom-to-be can do to reduce the risk to her child?
“The most important thing is prenatal care,” Dr. James Greenberg, co-director of the Perinatal Institute and director of Neonatology at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, told CBS News. “This can be picked up on a routine second trimester ultrasound. An 18-week ultrasound can identify this. For the caretakers, knowing ahead of time is very valuable for these babies.”
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