First-trimester anesthesia exposure and the risk of central nervous system defects: A population-based case-control study

G.C. Sylvester, M.J. Khoury, X. Lu and J.D. Erickson

American Journal of Public Health, 1994, vol. 84, issue 11, 1757-1760

Abstract: Objectives. Although up to 2% of women undergo surgery during pregnancy, teratogenic effects of general anesthesia have not been adequately studied. Recently, an association between first-trimester operations and central nervous system defects has been described. This issue was explored in a population-based case-control study. Methods. Case patients included live- born and stillborn infants with central nervous system defects born to residents of metropolitan Atlanta, Ga, between 1968 and 1980. Control patients included normal babies frequency matched to case patients by race, birth hospital, and period of birth. Conditional logistic regression analysis was used to adjust for potential confounding factors. Results. Of 694 mothers of infants with central nervous system defects, 12 reported first-trimester anesthesia exposure; 34 of 2984 control mothers reported such exposure (odds ratio [OR] = 1.7, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.8, 3.3). A striking association was observed between reported anesthesia exposure and hydrocephalus with another major defect (OR = 9.6, 95% CI = 3.8, 24.6). The strongest association was that of anesthesia exposure with hydrocephalus and eye defects (OR = 39.6, 95% CI = 7.5, 209.2). Conclusions. An increased risk of hydrocephalus with other defects was found among offspring of mothers with reported first-trimester anesthesia. Further studies are needed to explore the possible teratogenic effects of general anesthesia.

Date: 1994
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

There are no downloads for this item, see the EconPapers FAQ for hints about obtaining it.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:aph:ajpbhl:1994:84:11:1757-1760_6

Access Statistics for this article

American Journal of Public Health is currently edited by Alfredo Morabia

More articles in American Journal of Public Health from American Public Health Association
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Christopher F Baum ().