Abstract

Congenital malformations (CM) are a public health issue, because they cause infant mortality, chronic disease and disability. The origin can be genetic, environmental or unknown causes. Among environmental contaminants, pesticides stand out. Many different causes of malformations have been established. The surveillance of a consecutive population of births, including stillbirths and elective terminations of pregnancy because of fetal anomalies, can identify each infant with malformations and determine the frequency of the apparent etiologies. CM abnormality of structure and, consequently, function of the human body arising during development. This large group of disorders affects almost 5 percent of infants and includes several major groups of conditions.