Prevalence of talipes equinovarus, congenital dislocation of the hip, cleft lip/cleft palate, Down syndrome and neural tube defects among live newborns in Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka.

Objective To determine the prevalence of talipes equinovarus, congenital dislocation of the hip, cleft lip/cleft palate, Down syndrome and neural tube defects among live newborns at Anuradhapura General Hospital, Sri Lanka. Method Babies born from February 2002 to January 2003 were examined for the above five congenital anomalies. Anomalies were recorded in a register and live birth prevalence rate (LBPR) for each anomaly was calculated. Results 9105 newborns were examined for the 5 selected congenital anomalies. LBPR per 10,000 live births of the 5 anomalies were as follows: talipes equinovarus 31.8, congenital dislocation of hip 26.3, cleft lip/cleft palate 21.9, Down syndrome 20.8 and neural tube defects 13.2.