Studier av årsaker til medfødte misdannelser basert på Medisinsk fødselsregister

Abstract

Identification of causes of birth defects has been a major purpose of The Norwegian Medical Birth Registry since the registry was started. This has dramatic background in the fact that it was the international epidemic of birth defects caused by the apparently harmless drug Thalidomide that lead to the establishment of the registry in 1967. A review of studies of causes of birth defects based on data from the registry through its 40 year long history is given here. The review spans a variety of studies from studies of occupational exposures, power lines and the Chernobyl fallout to studies of familial recurrence risks. The purpose is not to give a scientific review of current evidence of causal effects but to give an impression of the contribution of the registry to such research over the past 40 years.