title: Epidemiology of orofacial clefts in Slovenia, 1973-1993: comparison of the incidence in six European countries.
abstract: For over 40 years, all children with orofacial clefts in Slovenia have been treated at the Department of Maxillofacial Surgery in Ljubljana, which maintains a register of these anomalies. Since 1987, clefts have also been registered within the framework of the perinatal Information System. An analysis of patients included in each of the two sources showed that an estimated 3.5% of cases were missing from the Cleft Register of the Department of Maxillofacial Surgery and 15% from the Perinatal Registry. The incidence of clefts in the period 1973-1993 was 1.64 per 1000 live births, with an increasing trend of 0.02 per year. Considerable differences were established among different geographic regions of Slovenia. Comparison with the data for Finland, Denmark, Hungary, Poland and Bohemia revealed some synchronicity of fluctuations in the incidence of clefting in these countries. The last two observations suggest that exogenous factors of two types play a part in the aetiology of orofacial clefts: some are limited in their action to a small geographical area, while others exert their influence simultaneously in areas several thousand kilometers apart.
authors.affiliation: Department of Maxillofacial Surgery, University Medical Centre, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Kozelj
mesh_terms: D001317:Austria / Q000453:epidemiology; D002971:Cleft Lip / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D002972:Cleft Palate / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D003718:Denmark / Q000453:epidemiology; D004777:Environment; D005060:Europe / Q000453:epidemiology; D005145:Face / Q000002:abnormalities*; D005260:Female; D005387:Finland / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D006814:Hungary / Q000453:epidemiology; D015994:Incidence; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007256:Information Systems; D008297:Male; D011044:Poland / Q000453:epidemiology; D012042:Registries; D012737:Sex Factors; D017524:Slovenia / Q000453:epidemiology