Trendsinpyloric stenosis incidence, Atlanta, 1968

SUMMARY Fourstudies reported anincreasing incidence ofpyloric stenosis during thelate 1970s fromgeographically diverse areasoftheUnited Kingdom. Itwas suggested thattheincreased incidence mightberelated tochanges ininfant feeding practices. We useddatafromthe Metropolitan Atlanta Congenital Defects Program, apopulation basedbirth defects registry, to examine thesecular trends anddescriptive epidemiology ofpyloric stenosis inaNorthAmerican city. Fortheperiod 1968to1982, theincidence ofpyloric stenosis was 1-33 per1000live births; there was no evidence ofan increasing trendforeither raceor sexspecific ratesofpyloric stenosis. Thedescriptive epidemiology ofthepyloric stenosis casesshowedhigher ratesfor males, whites, andinfants ofhigher birth weight. We found no increasing trendinpyloric stenosis incidence inAtlanta, despite welldocumented changes inUS infant feeding practices (an increased prevalence ofbreast feeding) during the1970s.