Studies in mouse models that possess enteric ganglia throughout the length of the intestine (non-HSCR) have also found that certain genetic alterations affect neural crest lineage balance and interestingly many of these mutants also have functional gastrointestinal (GI) defects.
Considering all methods together, there was a 28percentt greater risk for birth defects in babies conceived with fertility treatment, including increased risks for heart, muscle, urogenital and gastrointestinal defects and for cerebral palsy.
Feeding problems are frequent in children with DS and may be caused by associated defects, including congenital heart defects, gastrointestinal defects, or endocrine disorders.
Children with DS also have an increased risk of concomitant congenital defects and organic disorders such as congenital heart and gastrointestinal defects, celiac disease and hypothyroidism [ 21].
Gastrointestinal defects include abdominal wall defects and a range of abnormalities of the pharynx, oesophagus, intestine, colon, bile ducts, gallbladder and liver.
There was heterogeneity for all gastrointestinal defects considered together, but not when analysed according to specific sub-type (i.e. gastroschisis, omphalocele, anal atresia and hernias).
Prenatal exposure was associated with large increases in the risk of gastrointestinal defects (particularly oral clefts), neural tube defects (particularly anencephaly) and, modest increases in the risk of genitourinary defects (particularly hypospadias).
Gastrointestinal defects and genitourinary defects in Al-Anbar study accounted for 11.9% with a rate of 1.0 per 1000 live births and 1.8% with a rate of 0.15 per 1000 live births, respectively.
However, for others, such as cardiovascular defects, craniosynostosis, facial defects (e.g. of the eye), other gastrointestinal defects, and genitourinary defects, many studies ascertained affected cases up to 1 year after birth or beyond, or when diagnoses were made in infancy (including referrals for corrective treatment).
Adjusted odds ratios ranged from 0.8 to 1.0 for cardiac defects (crude GEE OR: 0.9), 1.6 to 2.0 for gastrointestinal defects (crude GEE OR: 1.8), 1.3 to 2.0 for genitourinary defects (crude GEE OR: 1.6), and 0.9 to 1.1 for musculoskeletal defects (crude GEE OR: 0.9).
The pooled ORs where smoking status was obtained prospectively were similar to those given above, e.g. cardiovascular disease (OR 1.14 versus 1.09 based on all studies), limb reduction defects (OR 1.28 versus 1.26), gastrointestinal defects (OR 1.38 versus 1.27), gastroschisis (OR 1.65 versus 1.50) and oral clefts (OR 1.24 versus 1.28).
