Occurrence of oro-facial malformations in a tertiary center hospital of Southern Italy: retrospective study on ten thousand newborns

Congenital anomalies (CA) are one of themajor cause of infant mortality and childhood morbitity,affecting 2-3% of all babies. Approximately 1% ofthese newborns have syndromes or multiple anomalies;Cranio-facial anomalies are often a component part ofthese pathologies. Several newborns with cranio-facialanomalies are affected by syndromes composed of multiplemalformations thought to be etiologically and/or pathogenetically related. One of the most frequentsign of these syndromes is the cleft lip and/or cleft palate.It is estimated that 30% of cleft cases are syndromicand conversely, therefore, approximately 70% arenon-syndromic. Oral clefts are among the most widelyknown and common craniofacial anomalies, occurringin approximately 1 in every 700 live births. Craniofacialanomalies include jaw deformities, malformed or missingteeth, defects in the ossification of facial or cranialbones, and facial asymmetries. Many factors contributeto cleft conditions, among them being heredity, pre-natalnutrition, drug exposure, and other environmentalfactors (WHO, 2002). The present study was aimed atevaluating the incidence of fetal oro-facial malformationsin a tertiary center hospital of Southern Italy.