BMJ  2006;332:250-251 (4 February), doi:10.1136/bmj.332.7536.250

Editorial

The incidence of gastroschisis

Is increasing in the UK, particularly among babies of young mothers

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Gastroschisis is the evisceration of the fetal intestine through a defect in the paraumbilical anterior abdominal wall with herniation of gastrointestinal structures into the amniotic cavity. Babies born with this condition are more likely to be born prematurely and to have had poor fetal growth. The anomaly requires immediate postnatal surgery, which has a good outcome in more than 90% of cases.¹ It is a distressing condition for parents, however, and often requires a prolonged stay in a paediatric unit.

Ten years ago our group reported in the BMJ that the national system for notifying congenital malformations (collated by the Office for Population and Census Surveys, now called the Office for National Statistics, ONS) showed an increasing trend in the number of babies born with gastroschisis in England and Wales between 1987 and 1993.² No such marked increase was apparent for other congenital anomalies such as exomphalos.

Gastroschisis was . . . [Full text of this article]

Department of Fetal Medicine, Division of Reproduction and Child Health, Birmingham Women's Hospital, University of Birmingham, Birmingham B15 2TG (m.d.kilby@bham.ac.uk)

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Gastroschisis is increasing worldwide. A need for international research

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Is the birth prevalence of Gastroschisis also increasing in Spain among infants of young mothers?

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