RESUMO
A retrospective study on the incidence and prevalence of congenital malformations in living newborns registered during a period of two years (1987-1988) at the University Hospital "Dr. José Eleuterio González" in Monterrey, Nuevo León was conducted. The data was tabulated based on the classification codes established by the World Health Organization (WHO), grouped according to organs and systems and by sex. Of a total of 9,675 living newborns registered, 224 (2.31%) had a congenital malformation: 102 males, 121 females and one of undetermined sex. The greatest incidence corresponded to the central nervous system, following in descending order the cardiovascular and muscular-skeletal systems, cleft lip and palate, digestive system, genitalia, chromosomic anomalies, respiratory and urinary systems and congenital cataracts. The prevalence of congenital malformations in our population is similar to that reported in other countries with respect to neural tube defects. Muscular-skeletal and multiple malformations were less frequent than seen in other hospitals.