The authors present data on the incidence of birth defects in liveborn infants up to the age of one year and the results of prenatal diagnosis of birth defects in the CR in 1997 and a brief comparison with the previous period 1992 - 1996. In the first part the authors present data on birth defects as whole, in the second part they present a comparison of the incidence of selected types of birth defects in 1997 with mean rates during the period 1961 - 1990. In the third part the comparison of results of prenatal diagnosis in the CR in 1997 is confronted with the period from 1992 - 1996.

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