Maternal gestational fever and congenital malformations

Abstract

The relationship between congenital malformations and hyperthermia due to maternal fever in humans was investigated in the present study. The frequency of congenital malformations was significantly higher (especially of the cardiovascular system, central nervous system and musculoskeletal system) in the offspring of the mothers who had a history of gestational fever as compared to the control population. The malformations observed included atrial septal defect, ventriculo septal defect, patent ductus arterioses hydrocephaly, meningomyelocele, microcephaly, anencephaly, shortened femur and humerus, hypospadias, micropenis and cryptorchidism. This finding emerges amid a resurgence of concern over the hazards of maternal hyperthermia and strongly supports the hypothesis that maternal gestational hyperthermia is an extremely potent teratogen.