Use of specified critical periods of different congenital abnormalities instead of the first trimester concept
- 7 January 2008
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Wiley in Birth Defects Research Part A: Clinical and Molecular Teratology
- Vol. 82 (3), 139-146
- https://doi.org/10.1002/bdra.20431
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Previously the first trimester, later the 2nd and/or 3rd gestational months were evaluated at the analysis of different exposures in different congenital abnormalities. However, different congenital abnormalities have different critical periods. The objective of this study was to check the feasibility of a new approach to consider the specified critical periods of different congenital abnormalities separately. METHODS: The potential teratogenic effect of oral ampicillin treatment and maternal influenza/fever during the study pregnancy regarding any time in pregnancy, during the first trimester, in the 2nd and/or 3rd gestational months, and finally in the specified critical periods of given congenital abnormalities were evaluated in the population-based large data set of the Hungarian Case-Control Surveillance System of Congenital Abnormalities. RESULTS: Of 22,843 cases, 1644 (7.2%) and 1328 (5.8%) were born to mothers who had oral ampicillin treatment or were affected with influenza/fever during the study pregnancy, while of 38,151 control newborns without any defect, 2631 (6.9 %) and 1838 (4.8%) had mothers with ampicillin treatment or influenza/fever, respectively. The analysis of different exposure time windows showed some difference in the risk for congenital abnormalities. The use of specified critical periods of different congenital abnormalities was feasible. CONCLUSIONS: The use of specified critical periods of different congenital abnormalities seems to be more scientific-based than the previously accepted methods for the evaluation of different exposure time windows. Thus this new and feasible approach is recommended for the controlled epidemiological studies in the future after an international consensus in the specified critical periods of different congenital abnormalities and other methodological issues.Keywords
This publication has 11 references indexed in Scilit:
- Maternal influenza during pregnancy and risk of congenital abnormalities in offspringBirth Defects Research Part A: Clinical and Molecular Teratology, 2005
- Risk and Benefit of Drug Use During PregnancyInternational Journal of Medical Sciences, 2005
- Validation studies of drug exposures in pregnant womenPharmacoepidemiology and Drug Safety, 2003
- The first trimester concept is outdatedCongenital Anomalies, 2001
- Recall Bias in a Case-Control Surveillance System on the Use of Medicine during PregnancyEpidemiology, 2001
- A population-based case-control teratologic study of ampicillin treatment during pregnancyAmerican Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, 2001
- Description and mission evaluation of the Hungarian case‐control surveillance of congenital abnormalities, 1980–1996Teratology, 2001
- What proportion of congenital abnormalities can be prevented?BMJ, 1993
- Developmental anomalies derived from exposure of zygotes and first-cleavage embryos to mutagensMutation Research/Reviews in Genetic Toxicology, 1992
- Exposure of female mice to ethylene oxide within hours after mating leads to fetal malformation and deathMutation Research, 1987