HC Deb 23 June 2003 vol 407 cc619-21W
Ms Drown

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many notifications there were of babies born with congenital anomalies in England and Wales in 2002; how many had(a) central nervous system anomalies, (b) cleft lip and/or palate, (c) anomalies of the heart and circulatory system, (d) anomalies of the alimentary system, (e) anomalies of the genital organ, (f) anomalies of the urinary system, (g) anomalies of the musculoskeletal system including limb reductions,

Number of babies born in England and Wales with selected conditions and rates per 10,000 total live and stillbirths, 1992–2001
1992 1993 1994 1995 1996
No. Rate No. Rate No. Rate No. Rate No. Rate
All babies with congenital anomalies notified 6,096 88.0 5,750 84.9 5,610 84.0 5,847 89.8 5,987 91.7
Central nervous system1 316 4.6 273 4.0 264 4.0 257 3.9 254 3.9
Cleft lip and/or palate2 731 10.6 657 9.7 629 9.4 592 9.1 588 9.0
Anomalies of the heart and circulatory system3 446 6.4 432 6.4 447 6.7 602 9.2 680 10.4
Anomalies of the alimentary system (excluding cleft lip and/or palate)4 271 3.9 275 4.1 221 3.3 290 4.5 270 4.1
Anomalies of the genital organ5 663 9.6 661 9.8 649 9.7 616 9.5 681 10.4
Anomalies of the urinary system6 362 5.2 371 5.5 348 5.2 407 6.2 406 6.2
Anomalies of the musculoskeletal system including limb reductions7 2,524 36.5 2,428 35.9 2,320 34.7 2,275 34.9 2,173 33.3
Down syndrome8 394 5.7 311 4.6 317 4.7 320 4.9 359 5.5
Other chromosomal anomalies9 120 1.7 113 1.7 111 1.7 120 1.8 145 2.2

1997 1998 1999 2000 2001
No. Rate No. Rate No. Rate No. Rate No. Rate
All babies with congenital anomalies notified 5,951 92.1 6,254 97.9 7,471 119.6 7,979 131.4 7,271 121.7
Central nervous system1 223 3.5 287 4.5 301 4.8 386 6.4 345 5.8
Cleft lip and/or palate2 581 9.0 594 9.3 585 9.4 596 9.8 560 9.4
Anomalies of the heart and circulatory system3 653 10.1 861 13.5 983 15.7 1,360 22.4 1,128 18.9
Anomalies of the alimentary system (excluding cleft lip and/or palate)4 255 3.9 293 4.6 374 6.0 457 7.5 342 5.7
Anomalies of the genital organ5 651 10.1 670 10.5 751 12.0 831 13.7 737 12.3
Anomalies of the urinary system6 504 7.8 542 8.5 639 10.2 788 13.0 706 11.8
Anomalies of the musculoskeletal system including limb reductions7 2,176 33.7 2,219 34.7 2,610 41.8 2,554 42.1 2,408 40.3
Down syndrome8 417 6.5 458 7.2 427 6.8 414 6.8 378 6.3
Other chromosomal anomalies9 133 2.1 156 2.4 203 3.2 233 3.8 213 3.6
1 Central nervous system was defined using the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision (ICD-9) codes 320 to 359 and 740 to 742, for the years 1992 to 1994 and the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10) codes GO4.0, G12.0, G12.9, G40.9, G60.0, G62.9, G70.9, G71.1, G71.2, G80.9, G83.2, G93.0, G93.1 and Q00 TO Q07, for the years 1995 to 2001.
2 Cleft lip and/or palate was defined using ICD-9 codes 7490 to 7492 for the years 1992 to 1994 and ICD-10 codes Q35 to Q37 for the years 1995 to 2001.
3 Anomalies of the heart and circulatory system was defined using ICD-9 codes 390 to 459 and 745–747 for the years 1992 to 1994 and ICD-10 codes 145.6, 147.1, 149.1, M30.3 and Q20 to Q28 for the years 1995 to 2001.
4 Anomalies of the alimentary system was defined using ICD-9 codes 7503, 7512, 530–539 (except 550 to 553), 7504, 7505, 7507 to 7511 and 7513 to 7519 for the years 1992 to 1994 and ICD-10 codes K74.0, K80.2, Q38 to Q45 and R14 for the years 1995 to 2001.
5 Anomalies of the genital organ was defined using ICD-9 codes 7526, 7525, 7528, 7786, 7520 to 7524, 7527 for the years 1992 to 1994 and ICD-10 codes N47, N89.8 and Q50-Q56 for the years 1995 to 2001. Prior to 1995, using ICD-9 hypospadias and epispadias were coded as 7526. Following implementation of ICD-10, hypospadias and epispadias were coded separately as Q54 and Q64.0 and grouped into anomalies of the genital organ and anomalies of the urinary system, respectively. In this table hypospadias and epispadias are included in the anomalies for genital organ to allow for trend analysis over the past 10 years.
6 Anomalies of the urinary system was defined using ICD-9 codes 580 to 608, 614 to 629, 7529, 7530, 7531, 7532, 7533, 7534, 7535 and 7536 to 7539 for the years 1992 to 1994 and ICD-10 codes N13.9, N25.8 and Q60 to Q64 for the years 1995 to 2001.

(h) Down syndrome and (i) other chromosomal anomalies; and if he will make a statement about trends over the past 10 years. [120164]

John Healey

The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.

Letter from Len Cook to Julia Drown, dated 23 June 2003: As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your recent question on the number of notifications of babies born with congenital anomalies in England and Wales in 2002 and the trends over the past 10 years. (120164) The latest available figures are for 2001. The attached table shows the numbers and notification rates for babies born in England and Wales with selected conditions from 1992 to 2001 inclusive. Prior to 1995, notification of babies to the National Congenital Anomaly System (NCAS) was confined to 10 days from birth. The removal of this restriction resulted in an increase in the notifications of all congenital anomalies in 1995. Reporting to the NCAS is voluntary and since 1998 regions with local registers have exchanged information with the NCAS, leading to more complete notification. This has resulted in a large increase in notification rates for several types of anomalies since 1998.

76 Anomalies of the musculoskeletal system including limb reductions was defined using ICD-9 codes 7550, 7551, 7552 to 7554, 7545 to 7547, 7543, 7544, 7555, 7556, 7558, 7559,7506, 7566, 524 (excluding 5243), 526, 7445, 7448, 7449, 7480, 7481, 7540, 7560, 754.1, 7542, 7561 to 7563, 7564, 7565, 710 to 739, 7548, 7568, 7569, 5509, 5530 to 5532, 5538, 5539, 7567,527 to 529, 7444, 7500 to 7502 for the years 1992 to 1994 and ICD-10 codes K40 to K46, M21.2, M89.8, P94, and Q65 to Q79 for the years 1995 to 2001.

8 Down syndrome was defined using ICD-9 code 7580 for the years 1992 to 1994 and ICD-10 code Q90 for the years 1995 to 2001.

9 Other chromosomal anomalies was defined using ICD-9 codes 0 to 139, 290 to 319, 630 to 676 and 759 for the years 1992 and 1994 ICD-10 codes Q91 to Q99 for the years 1995 to 2001.