Gastroschisis prevalence substantially decreased from 2009 through 2018 after a 3-fold increase from 1997 to 2008.

Background/purpose: Gastroschisis incidence increased 300% in the United States from 1998 to 2013. We sought to assess trends in gastroschisis prevalence in the United States from 1997 to 2018 from a large NICU dataset.
Methods: We performed a retrospective review of all infants in the Pediatrix Clinical Data Warehouse from 1997 to 2018. Prevalence was calculated as number of infants with gastroschisis (among all NICU admissions) divided by the total number of NICU infants. Trends were analyzed by year and also after stratification of the cohort by maternal age.
Results: We included 1,433,027 infants discharged over the study period. Between 1997 and 2008, the prevalence of gastroschisis increased from 2.9 to 6.4 per 1000 infants (p < 0.01) and then decreased to 3.3 per 1000 infants (p < 0.01) by 2018. Younger mothers (<20 years old) had the highest rate of gastroschisis and the largest recent decrease in prevalence of gastroschisis (20.8/1000 infant in 2008 to 13.1/1000 infants in 2018, p < 0.01). Prevalence of gastroschisis decreased within each maternal age group.
Conclusion: The prevalence of gastroschisis increased from 1997 to 2008 then decreased from 2009 to 2018 and is now similar to that reported in 1997. Future research that identifies changes in underlying risk factors may help elucidate the pathogenesis of this disease.
Level of Evidence: Level II prognosis study.
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