[Epidemiology of congenital malformations at the Ruiz and Páez Hospital of Bolívar City: a 10 years' experience]. / Epidemiología de malformaciones congénitas en el Hospital Ruiz y Páez de Ciudad Bolívar: una experiencia de 10 años.

From April 1978 to December 1988, we have studied the frequency of congenital malformations in newborns at the Ruiz y Páez University Hospital of Ciudad Bolivar. In that period 58,901 live births were observed, 1,821 of them presented at least one congenital malformation for a frequency of 30.9/1000. From January 1980 to December 1988, the number of stillbirths was 1097 with 44 of them congenitally malformed for a frequency of 40.1/1,000. Based on the data obtained, we consider that congenital malformations are a major public health problem that deserves national public programs to provide rational approaches to this situation. The frequency of each malformation and the characteristics of the control population are described. Some disadvantages of this type of investigation are considered, however, the need for other similar studies is emphasized in order to obtain a better understanding of the national status of the problem.