Freqüência de malformações congênitas das extremidades em recém-nascidos

Congenital malformations are structural, functional or metabolic alterations present in birth that cause physical or cognitive anomalies; they may be simple or multiple and of major or minor clinical importance. We aimed to analyze the frequency of locomotor apparatus congenital anomalies (extremities) in maternities of the city of Maceio. A prospective cross-sectional cohort study was carried out with 2500 newborns between July 2002 and June 2003 in the maternities Casa Maternal Santa Monica, Hospital Memorial Arthur Ramos and Santa Casa de Misericordia de Maceio. Approximately 2.88% of the studied newborns presented some type of locomotor apparatus anomaly. The most frequent major anomaly was the equinovarus clubfoot and the most frequent minor anomaly was the valgus calcaneus foot. It is important to note that an early diagnosis improves the quality of life of this population.