推迟生育的女性会增加男婴先天性泌尿系统缺陷的风险

纽约(2001年2月16日)——哥伦比亚长老会医学中心的研究人员报告说,女性推迟生育增加他们的男婴儿的可能性会有尿道下裂,先天性异常,发生在阴茎尿道异常发展,把阴茎尿道口在底部的一面。这项发表在《泌尿学杂志》(Journal of Urology) 3月刊上的研究强调了将生育时间推迟到老年的风险。这项新研究的主要作者、哥伦比亚大学内外科医学院(Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons)泌尿外科临床副教授、哥伦比亚长老会医学中心(Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center)泌尿外科男性生殖中心(Male Reproductive Center)主任哈里·菲什(Harry Fisch)博士说，尿道下裂可能会导致感染和不孕。虽然尿道下裂可以通过手术修复，但如果能够预防这种缺陷，那就更好了。Fisch博士的合著者包括dr。哥伦比亚长老会医疗中心的Gary L. Libersen, Grace S. Hyun和Terry W. Hensle;纽约威尔康奈尔医疗中心的Maria I. New博士;马里兰州波托马克毒理学院的罗伯特·j·戈尔登博士;以及美国不孕不育协会的帕梅拉·马德森女士。研究人员分析了纽约和加州从1983年到1996年产妇年龄和出生缺陷的数据。 Currently, the New York State Congenital Malformation Registry and the California Birth Defects Monitoring Program combined provide data from approximately 500,000 births annually, or approximately 16 percent of all United States births. The researchers found that advanced maternal age is significantly associated with hypospadias. In California, mothers 35 and older have a 50 percent greater risk of giving birth to this defect compared to mothers less than 20 years old. “It’s commonly known that older women have greater problems getting pregnant, run a higher risk of miscarriages and multiple fetuses, and have a greater chance of such congenital abnormalities as heart defects and Down’s syndrome,” Dr. Fisch says. “Now it is necessary to add to the list the danger of a urological defect, hypospadias.” Dr. Fisch points out that the trend for American women to delay childbearing is remarkable. In New York State in 1983, women aged 35 and older having children accounted for only 7 percent of all births; by 1996, women of that age group were responsible for 17 percent of all births -- one out of six. One question is whether the greater incidence of hypospadias among older mothers may be caused by environmental factors. Dr. Fisch says there are no scientific data to show such a cause. Another question discussed in the article is whether fertility treatments may account for an increased incidence of hypospadias. A cursory look at the evidence might indicate this possibility, but when the data are controlled for maternal age, it appears that the defect arises because of increasing age, not increasing use of fertility treatments. “The consequences of delaying childbearing are a matter that society has still not fully faced up to,” says Dr. Fisch, calling for more research and public education.

# # #