Author Identifier

Aris Siafarikas: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9963-3988

Document Type

Journal Article

Publication Title

European Journal of Pediatrics

Volume

184

Issue

5

PubMed ID

40229431

Publisher

Springer

School

School of Medical and Health Sciences

RAS ID

81859

Funders

Open access funding provided by Perth Children's Hospital, WA Health Libraries Network Consortium / Channel 7 Telethon Trust / Australia and New Zealand Society for Paediatric Endocrinology and Diabetes

Comments

Cullingford, D. J., Abraham, M. B., Siafarikas, A., Blackmore, A. M., Downs, J., Jacoby, P., ... & Choong, C. S. (2025). Septo-optic dysplasia and gastroschisis: Trends in birth prevalence and association with maternal age. European Journal of Pediatrics, 184. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00431-025-06118-4

Abstract

This study aims to describe the risk factors and trends in birth prevalence of septo-optic dysplasia (SOD) and gastroschisis between 1980 and 2023. This descriptive, population-based study of SOD and gastroschisis used Western Australian Register of Developmental Anomalies data from 1980 to 2023. Birth prevalence was calculated using Midwives Notification System data for all births after 20 weeks gestation. Relative risk (RR) for SOD and gastroschisis showed risk by maternal age. SOD and gastroschisis occurred in 99 and 391 cases respectively (no dual diagnoses), with a birth prevalence of 1.41 and 3.71 per 10,000 respectively (from 2010 to 2019), and have been stable since 2010. For the study period, younger maternal age (under 25 years old) increased the risk of SOD and gastroschisis (RR, 3.28 [95% confidence interval (CI) 2.13–5.00]; RR, 4.50 [95% CI 3.68–5.49] respectively). From 2010 to 2023, median maternal age increased for SOD and gastroschisis by 4.8 years (p = 0.044) to 27.0 and by 2.8 years (p < 0.001) to 25.5, respectively. Mothers living in areas of greater socioeconomic disadvantage had higher risk (RR, 1.81 [95% CI 1.14–2.88] in SOD and RR, 1.41 [95% CI 1.06–1.86] in gastroschisis), independent of maternal age. Premature birth was more common in children with SOD and gastroschisis. Conclusion: While younger mothers are more likely to have a child with either SOD or gastroschisis, maternal age at birth is higher than reported in the literature and is rising. This is probably attributable to the rising age of mothers at delivery, and further research into risk factors beyond maternal age is recommended. (Table presented.)

DOI

10.1007/s00431-025-06118-4

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

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