title: Exogenous progestogen and estrogen implicated in birth defects.
abstract: A five-year study of possible teratogenicity of exogenous female sex hormones included three case-control studies and one cohort study. The first case-control study disclosed an estimated relative risk of 8.41 and a highly significant difference in maternal hormonal exposure (P less than .001) between controls and infants with three major anomalies of the VACTERL group (V, vertebral; A, anal; C, cardiac; T, tracheal; E, esophageal; R, renal; and L,limb). Relative risk (RR) estimates of 5.58 (P = .017) and 3.35 (P less than .001) were found in two case-control studies involving maternal hormonal exposure and patients with congenital heart lesions without other malformations. A controlled, single-blind prospective study disclosed an excess of patients with major malformations (RR = 2.75), congenital heart anomalies (RR = 6), and neurological and neural tube disorders preponderant in the presence of a precipitously declining exposure rate during a three-year period in our referral area.
mesh_terms: D000014:Abnormalities, Drug-Induced / Q000209:etiology*; D000015:Abnormalities, Multiple / Q000139:chemically induced; D001003:Anal Canal / Q000002:abnormalities; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004947:Esophagus / Q000002:abnormalities; D004967:Estrogens / Q000009:adverse effects*; D005260:Female; D005333:Fetus / Q000187:drug effects; D006330:Heart Defects, Congenital / Q000139:chemically induced; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007668:Kidney / Q000002:abnormalities; D017880:Limb Deformities, Congenital; D008297:Male; D011247:Pregnancy; D011261:Pregnancy Trimester, First; D011372:Progestins / Q000009:adverse effects*; D013131:Spine / Q000002:abnormalities; D014132:Trachea / Q000002:abnormalities
chemical_list: D004967:Estrogens; D011372:Progestins