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Background: Little is known about the epidemiology of congenital hydrocephalus (CH) in China. This study aimed to depict recent changes in CH prevalence and perinatal outcomes of the affected newborns.Methods: Data were obtained from the Chinese Birth Defects Monitoring Network (CBDMN), which collects demographic information on all newborns above 28 weeks of gestation, and clinical information on neonates with congenital anomalies. CH cases delivered during 2005-2012 were analyzed. Poisson regression was used to calculate prevalence ratios (PR) and 95% confidence intervals, and linear chi-square test was used to examine time trend of CH prevalence.Results: Five thousand two hundred forty-five isolated and 1245 associated CH cases were identified among 10,574,061 newborns, yielding the prevalence of 4.96, 1.18 and 6.14 per 10,000 births for the isolated, associated and overall hydrocephalus, respectively. The annual prevalence of CH presented a decreasing trend (from 7.52 to 5.98 per 10,000 births, P < 0.001). Higher prevalence was found in both younger (<20 years, PR: 1.81, 95% CI: 1.56-2.10) and older (≥35 years, PR: 1.48, 95% CI: 1.36-1.61) maternal-age groups in comparison with the maternal-age group of 20 to 24 years. Higher prevalence was also found in infants born to mothers resided in rural areas, male infants, and multiple births. Of non-aborted infants with congenital hydrocephalus, 38.11% were born with low birth weight, 37.53% were preterm birth, and 20.69% died within 7 days after birth.Conclusions: Our findings present a relatively high prevalence and poor perinatal outcomes of CH in China, which can serve as a baseline for future study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Little is known about secular trends and seasonal variation in the birth prevalence of omphalocele in China. This study aimed to explore the long-term trends and seasonality of this birth defect, to provide insight into the etiology and prevention of omphalocele. Methods: A retrospective analysis of all births with omphalocele (1322 cases in 8.8 million births) registered in the hospital-based Chinese Birth Defects Monitoring Network between January 1996 and September 2010. Negative binomial cyclical regression models were used to analyze the long-term trends and seasonal fluctuations of omphalocele occurrence in the southern and northern regions and urban and rural areas of China. Results: The total prevalence of omphalocele was 1.50 cases (95% confidence interval (CI): 1.42-1.58) per 10,000 births. There was no significant secular trend of omphalocele occurrence in China between 1996 and 2010. The observed prevalence of omphalocele in rural areas was 2.03-2.54 cases per 10,000 births between May and August, which was higher than that observed in other months. The highest prevalence of births with omphalocele in rural areas occurred at the end of June; on average, the prevalence of omphalocele at that time point increased by 20% (95% CI: 6-35%) compared with other months. Conclusions: There were no long-term trends found for occurrence of omphalocele in China between 1996 and 2010; however, seasonality was observed for omphalocele in women living in rural areas. These results may help generate hypotheses for further study of environmental factors that vary by season. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]