American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol 12, 264-274, Copyright © 1963 by The American Society for Clinical Nutrition, Inc.

Congenital Malformations of the Central Nervous System

¹ From the Children's Hospital Research Foundation and the Department of Pediatrics, College of Medicine, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio

We have discussed various problems of the incidence, etiology, and development of congenital malformations, especially those of the central nervous system. It is noted that the frequency with which congenital malformations of the central nervous system occur is relatively large in various human populations and varies greatly between geographic regions and between different racial groups within the same region. Furthermore, the incidence of these abnormalities varies with the sex of the affected person, with maternal age and birth rank, with season and year, and with social class and is increased above the population level, but to the same degree, in both the co-twins and other siblings of malformed persons.

Congenital malformations of the central nervous system in man are without doubt diverse and complex in origin and development; at the present time almost nothing is known of the most urgent aspects of this problem. Experimental teratology can fill some of the gaps in our knowledge of the prenatal development of specific congenital malformations and clarify the casual relationships between defects in syndromes of malformations. Such studies, in conjunction with work in developmental genetics and experimental embryology, also lend insight into the role and operation of the interaction between genetic and environmental factors at the root of many congenital malformations.