An Ongoing Epidemic of Birth Defects

Gladys Cossio, Alberto Bissot, Mireya de Rivas, Luis Morales, Paul Gallardo, David Ellis, Judith Hal

Department of Pediatrics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.
Neonatology Ward and Genetics Department, Hospital del Ni?o de Panamá (Panama’s Children’s Hospital), Panama City, Republic of Panama.

DOI: 10.4236/pp.2013.43045                

Abstract

In the 1990s, misoprostol (synthetic prostaglandin E1 analogue) was found to be an effective abortive agent when taken orally and became widely used in Latin America as a means to terminate unwanted pregnancies. A variety of congenital anomalies have been observed among the children of women who ingested misoprostol, but failed to terminate their pregnancy. We report here eight years of experience in Panama with the detection and follow-up of the malformations seen in infants associated with the use of misoprostol prostaglandin during the first trimester of pregnancy. During the period between April 1995 and March 2003, we identified 63 infants at the Panama’s Children’s Hospital who were exposed to misoprostol while in the womb and who were born with malformations. These infants were evaluated by a team of neonatologists, geneticists, cardiologists, ophthalmologists, and radiologists.

Keywords

Congenital Anomalies; Teratogenic Agent; Misoprostol; Pregnancy

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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