Birth Defects and Parental Consanguinity in the North of Iran

Aim: Consanguineous marriages are considered as a risk factor of some congenital anomalies. This study was done to determine the relationship between birth defects and consanguineous marriage in northern Iran.

Methodology and Study Design: This hospital based study with consecutive sampling was performed on 1545 live newborns with birth defects in Golestan province, northern Iran during 2007–2012. Consanguinity of parents of each newborn was recorded.

Results: From 1545 malformed newborn who born during the study period, 480(31.06%) of newborns were born to consanguineous parents. 395(82.3%) of parents were first cousins followed by second cousins 85(17.7%). The number of 557 congenital malformations was detected in 480 malformed newborns were born from consanguineous parents. The percent of congenital anomalies in newborns were born from consanguineous vs. non-consanguineous parents were as following; heart anomalies (45.2% vs. 51.2%), followed by anomalies of central nervous system (17.5% vs. 15.5%), limb anomalies (22.9% vs. 14.8%), urogenital anomalies (7.1% vs. 5%) and gastrointestinal anomalies (23.3% vs. 18.4%). There was a significant association between the percentage of heart, limb and gastrointestinal anomalies with Consanguinity of parents (P<0.05).

Conclusion: This study showed that the congenital anomalies was significantly related with consanguineous marriages in north of Iran.