From embryogenesis to the prevention of congenital cardiopathies, defects of the neural tube and the abdominal wall

Abstract

Background: congenital defects are an important cause of infantile mortality and disability. Cardiopathies and defects of the neural tube and the abdominal wall are among the most frequent ones. Aim: systematizing theoretical referents on embryogenesis and epidemiology of these developmental anomalies, to contribute to physicians’ and students´ training as health promoters. Materials and methods: 32 scientific articles were reviewed, searching in the Health Virtual Library of Infomed, in the databases Medline Complete, Pubmed Central, Clinical Key, regional Scielo and Scielo Cuba. The search was made from October 2014 to February 2015, and was restricted to the last 8 years. Outcomes: heart defects are produced by failures in embryogenesis, between the fifth and the seventh weeks of pregnancy; the neural tube ones, between the third and fourth weeks of pregnancy, and the ones of the front wall, between the fourth and the twelfth weeks of pregnancy. Etiology is due to genetic, environmental and multifactorable reasons; the recurrence risk depends on the cause. There are three prevention levels: pre-conceptional, prenatal and postnatal. Conclusions: the most important level is the pre-conceptional one, because it is the most efficacious, human and economic.