What are Birth Defects?
Birth Defects, sometimes called congenital anomalies, are abnormalities in the structure of organs that are present at birth. Typically the abnormalities involve a body part that is missing or malformed. Other birth defects involve problems with metabolism, or how the organs work. The MA Center collects data only on structural abnormalities. Birth defects can affect any system in the body. Some babies have just one defect while others may have multiple defects. The most common birth defects include:
- Heart defects
- Genitourinary defects
- Cleft lip/palate
- Chromosome problems
- Abdomen and chest defects
- Limb abnormalities
- Brain and nervous system abnormalities
- Gastrointestinal
We don't know what causes most birth defects
- Fewer than 10% of birth defects result from prenatal exposures to known hazards. German measles, diabetes or heavy drinking of alcohol during pregnancy are some exposures that can cause birth defects.
- Some are the result of abnormal genes or chromosomes that may be inherited or may represent new mutations.
- Most birth defects are thought to arise from interactions between genes or interactions between genes and environmental factors. Certain chemicals may affect some families more than others.
- 70% of birth defects are of unknown cause.
Birth defects can occur even with good prenatal care
- Prenatal care has been shown to be very important to the health of both mother and baby, however it has little impact on birth defects. Major embryonic development occurs in the first few weeks of a pregnancy, often before a woman knows she is pregnant.
- Research has shown that taking a multivitamin containing folic acid, a B vitamin, before conception and for the first several months lowers the risk for a type of birth defect called neural tube defects.
Birth defects can happen in any family
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Birth defects can happen to babies born to mothers of all ages, race/ethnic groups, education levels.
Glossary of selected Birth Defects terms
Agenesis, aplasia: Congenital absence of a body part or organ, implying that the structure never formed. Result of an error in development, as opposed to an external process.
Agenesis corpus callosum: Congenital absence of the part of the brain which connects the two cerebral hemispheres.
Amniotic band sequence: Highly variable group of defects (or single defect) due to encirclement (strangulation) of a body part by strands of a fragmented amniotic sac. Includes terminal transverse limb defects, clefts and body wall defects.
Anencephaly: Congenital absence of the skull and brain.
Aniridia: Congenital complete absence of the iris of the eye.
Anophthalmia: Congenital complete (or essentially complete) absence of the eye globe.
Anotia: Congenital absence of the ear.
Aortic valve stenosis: Congenital heart defect characterized by aortic valve narrowing reducing the flow of blood.
Arthrogryposis: Multiple congenital contractures of various joints.
Atresia / Imperforation: Congenital absence or closure of a normal opening (valve or lumen).
Atresia or stenosis of large intestine, rectum and anus: Congenital absence, closure or constriction of the large intestine, rectum or anus (commonly known as imperforate anus).
Atresia or stenosis of small intestine: Congenital absence, closure or constriction of the small intestine ( duodenal, jejunal, ileal atresia/stenosis).
Atrial Septal Defect (ASD): Congenital heart defect characterized by one or more openings in the atrial septum (wall between the right and left atria). Most common type is called ASD, secundum.
Biliary atresia: Congenital absence of the ducts in the biliary tract.
Birth defect: Congenital abnormalities of structure, function or metabolism present before birth.
Bladder exstrophy: Congenital exposure of the bladder mucosa caused by incomplete closure of the anterior bladder wall and the abdominal cavity.
Branchial cleft, fistula, tag, cyst: Congenital abnormality of the neck or area just below the collarbone (clavicle). Includes skin pits (cleft), tissue tags, or cysts.
Cataract: Congenital opacity (clouding) of the lens of the eye.
Choanal atresia, choanal stenosis: Congenital absence (or narrowing) of the passageway between the nose and pharynx due to a thick bone or thin "membranous" bone.
Cleft lip: Congenital defect of the upper lip in which there is incomplete closure.
Cleft palate: Congenital defect in the closure of the palate; the structure which separates the nasal cavities and the back of the mouth. May involve the soft palate, hard palate or alveolus (gum).
Coarctation of the aorta: Congenital heart defect characterized by narrowing of the descending aorta. Usually occurs as an indentation at a specific location, less commonly diffuse narrowing.
Congenital: Abnormality or problem present at birth. Includes defects detected prenatally and those not recognized until after the newborn period.
Congenital heart defect (CHD), cardiovascular malformation (CVM): Abnormal heart structure present at birth. Includes defects detected prenatally, and those recognized after the newborn period.
Craniosynostosis: Congenital abnormality of skull shape due to premature fusion of the sutures between the skull bones. Head may be elongated, foreshortened, tower-like or asymmetrically flattened.
Dandy-Walker malformation: Congenital defect of the cerebellum involving a small cerebellar vermis and cystic dilation of the fourth ventricle.
Diaphragmatic hernia: Congenital defect of the muscular diaphragm resulting in herniation of the abdominal contents into the chest. Incomplete, asymptomatic variation is called eventration.
Down syndrome (Trisomy 21): Distinctive and common chromosome abnormality syndrome caused by an extra copy of chromosome 21. Can be complete (Trisomy 21), attached to another chromosome (translocation), or mixed with cells containing normal chromosomes (mosaic).
Dysplasia: Abnormal cell organization of an organ. Usually congenital, may be acquired.
Ebstein anomaly: Congenital heart defect characterized by downward displacement of the tricuspid valve into the right ventricle, associated with tricuspid valve regurgitation.
Encephalocele: Congenital defect of the skull resulting in herniation (protrusion) of the brain.
Endocardial cushion defect (ECD), atrioventricular canal (AVC) defect, atrioventricular septal defect (AVSD):Congenital heart defect characterized by a combined atrial and ventricular septal defect, and common atrioventricular valve (instead of distinct tricuspid and mitral valves). In contrast to complete AVC, the partial AVC includes an atrial septal defect, primum type, plus a cleft mitral valve.
Esophageal atresia: Congenital discontinuity of the lumen of the esophagus. Usually associated with a tracheoesophageal fistula (TEF) which is an abnormal connection between the esophagus and trachea.
Fistula: Abnormal connection between an internal organ and the body surface, or between two internal organs or structures. Can be congenital or acquired.
Gastroschisis: Congenital opening of the abdominal wall with protrusion of the abdominal contents. Can be distinguished from omphalocele by location usually to the right of the umbilicus.
Heterotaxy (situs anomalies): Congenital malposition of the abdominal organs often associated with a congenital heart defect.
Hirschsprung disease: Congenital aganglionic megacolon (enlarged colon) due to absent nerves in the wall of the colon.
Holoprosencephaly: Spectrum of congenital defects of the forebrain due to failure of the brain to develop into two equal halves. Includes alobar (single ventricle), semilobar and lobar types.
Hydrocephalus: Accumulation of fluid within the spaces of the brain. Can be congenital or acquired.
Hydronephrosis: Enlargement of the urine-filled chambers (pelves, calyces) of the kidney
Hyperplasia: Overgrowth due to an increase in the number of cells of tissue.
Hypertrophy: Overgrowth due to enlargement of existing cells.
Hypoplasia: Small size of organ or part due to arrested development
Hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS): Congenital heart defect characterized by extreme smallness of left-sided structures. Classically, aortic valve/mitral valve atresia or marked hypoplasia, ascending aorta and left ventricle hypoplasia.
Hypospadias: Congenital defect of the penis in which the urethral meatus (urinary outlet) is not on the glans (tip). Severity based on location from shaft to scrotum and perineum.
Limb deficiency, upper (arms) / lower (legs): Congenital absence of a portion or entire limb. Types include transverse (resembling an amputation), longitudinal (missing ray) and intercalary (missing bone in-between).
Macrocephaly: Large head due to extra fluid or extra volume.
Meninges: Membranes that cover the brain and spinal cord.
Microcephaly: Small head, with corresponding smallness of the brain.
Microphthalmia: Congenital smallness of the eye globe.
Microtia: Congenital smallness or maldevelopment of the external ear, with or without absence or narrowing of the external auditory canal.
Mosaic: In genetics, two or more different chromosome types in cell lines. Proportion of normal to abnormal cells usually correlated to severity.
Neural tube defect (NTD): Congenital opening from head to the base of the spine resulting from failure of the neural tube to close in the first month of pregnancy. Includes anencephaly, spina bifida, and encephalocele.
Obstructive genitourinary defect: Congenital narrowing or absence of the urinary tract structure at any level. Severity often depends upon the level of the obstruction. Often accompanied by hydronephrosis.
Omphalocele: Congenital opening of the abdominal wall with protrusion of the abdominal contents. Can be distinguished from gastroschisis by location within umbilical ring.
Patent ductus arteriosus (PDA): Congenital heart defect characterized by persistence of the fetal blood vessel connecting the pulmonary artery and the aorta.
Polydactyly: Extra fingers or toes which may be medial (pre-axial) or lateral (postaxial).
Pulmonary atresia: Congenital heart defect characterized by absence of the pulmonary valve or pulmonary artery itself. May occur with an intact ventricular septum (PA/IVS) or with a ventricular septal defect, in which it is more properly called Tetralogy of Fallot with pulmonary atresia (TOF/PA).
Pulmonary stenosis (PS ) : Congenital heart defect characterized by narrowing of the pulmonary valve.
Renal agenesis: Congenital absence of the kidney.
Spina bifida: Neural tube defect with protrusion of the spinal cord and/or meninges. Includes myelomeningocele (involving both spinal cord and meninges) and meningocele (involving just the meninges).
Stenosis: Narrowing or constriction of the diameter of a bodily passage or orifice.
Tetralogy of Fallot (TOF): Congenital heart defect composed of ventricular septal defect, pulmonary stenosis or atresia, displacement of the aorta to the right, and hypertrophy of right ventricle.
Tracheoesophageal fistula (TEF): See Esophageal atresia.
Translocation: Chromosome rearrangement in which a piece of genetic material is transferred from one segment to another. May be balanced (no chromosome material gained or lost), or unbalanced (material has been gained or lost).
Transposition of the great vessels (arteries) (d-TGA): Congenital heart defect in which the aorta arises from the right ventricle, and the pulmonary artery arises from the left ventricle (opposite of normal).
Tricuspid atresia: Congenital heart defect characterized by the absence of the tricuspid valve.
Trisomy: Chromosome abnormality characterized by a third copy of a chromosome. Includes complete and partial formation of an extra chromosome.
Trisomy 13: Chromosome abnormality caused by an extra chromosome 13.
Trisomy 18: Chromosomal abnormality caused by an extra chromosome 18.
Trisomy 21: See Down Syndrome.
Truncus arteriosus: Congenital heart defect characterized by a single great arterial trunk, instead of a separate aorta and pulmonary artery.
Ventricular Septal Defect (VSD): Congenital heart defect characterized by one or several openings in the ventricular septum. Includes subtypes based on location of the "hole" in the septum, ie. membranous, muscular, conoventricular, subtricuspid/canal.
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1 Adapted from the Texas Birth Defects Monitoring Division, Texas Department of Health, Modified 2/27/01, Accessed 4/2/01.