Incidence of non-syndromic orofacial cleft during the COVID-19 pandemic in Saudi Arabia.
Heba Jafar Sabbagh, Sultan Musaad Alghamdi, Fatma Dawood Abdulhameed, Reema Mahdi Alhussain, Najla Sulaiman Alrejaye, Latifa Yousef AlGudaibi, Bahauddin Ibraheem Sallout, Badi Shoaib Albaqawi, Eman Abdulbaset Alnamnakani, Lougin Khalid Brekeit, Mona Tala Alsharif, Ali Bakr Alshaikh, Manal Ibrahim Almalik, Abdullah Jameel Aburiziza, Norah Suliman Al Soqih, Faisal Ali Alqhtani, Bushra Musaad Alghamdi, Asalah Khalid Alraddadi, Aziza Johar Aljohar, Osama Adel Basri, Rana Abdullah Alamoudi
Author Information
Heba Jafar Sabbagh: Pediatric Dentistry Department, Faculty of Dentistry, King Abdulaziz University, 21589, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. ORCID
Sultan Musaad Alghamdi: Pediatric Dentistry Department, Bisha Dental Centre, Ministry of Health, Bisha, Saudi Arabia. ORCID
Fatma Dawood Abdulhameed: Pediatric Surgery Department, King Salman Medical City, Maternity and Children's Hospital, Madinah, Saudi Arabia.
Reema Mahdi Alhussain: Pediatric Dentistry Department, Dammam Medical Complex, Eastern health cluster, Eastern Province, Dammam, Saudi Arabia.
Najla Sulaiman Alrejaye: Orthodontics, King Abdullah International Medical Research CenterConsultant in Craniofacial Orthodontics, Department of Dentistry, King Abdulaziz Medical City, King Saud Bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, College of Dentistry, Ministry of National Guard Health Affairs, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. ORCID
Latifa Yousef AlGudaibi: Saudi Board of Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics Program, King Saud Bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, College of Dentistry; King Abdullah International Medical Research Center, King Abdulaziz Medical City, Ministry of National Guard Health Affairs, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Bahauddin Ibraheem Sallout: Obstetrics and Gynecology, Maternal Fetal Medicine, Women's Specialized Hospital, King Fahad Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Badi Shoaib Albaqawi: Maternal Fetal Medicine, Women's Specialized Hospital, King Fahad Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Eman Abdulbaset Alnamnakani: Orthodontist, Dental Department, Prince Sultan Military Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Lougin Khalid Brekeit: Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics, Prince Sultan Military Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Mona Tala Alsharif: Department of Dental Public Health, King Abdulaziz University, Faculty of Dentistry, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. ORCID
Ali Bakr Alshaikh: Saudi Board of pediatric dentistry, Riyadh Elm University, College of Dentistry, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Manal Ibrahim Almalik: Dental Department, King Fahad Armed Forces Hospital, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Abdullah Jameel Aburiziza: Pediatric Department, Umm Al-Qura University, Faculty of Medicine, Makkah, Saudi Arabia.
Norah Suliman Al Soqih: Department of Pediatrics, Qassim University, College of Medicine, Buraidah, Saudi Arabia.
Faisal Ali Alqhtani: Pediatric Dentistry Department, King Khalid University, Faculty of Dentistry, Abha, Saudi Arabia.
Bushra Musaad Alghamdi: Al-Baha University, Faculty of Medicine, Al-Baha, Saudi Arabia.
Asalah Khalid Alraddadi: King Abdulaziz University, Faculty of Dentistry, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Aziza Johar Aljohar: Department of Dentistry, King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Osama Adel Basri: King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Rana Abdullah Alamoudi: Pediatric Dentistry Department, Faculty of Dentistry, King Abdulaziz University, 21589, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. rasalamoudi@kau.edu.sa. ORCID
OBJECTIVES: This is the first national study to investigate the incidence of non-syndromic oro-facial clefts (NSOFC) and Pierre-Robin-Sequence in Saudi Arabia over the Covid-19 pandemic period. METHODS: All maternity hospitals (30-hospitals) in the major regions and cities of Saudi from November 2020-to-2021 were included in the study. Patients were evaluated for cleft phenotype using the LASHAL-classification system. The incidence of NSOFC in Saudi Arabia was calculated by comparing the number of NSOFCs cases born out of all live births during the study period at the included hospitals. Clinical examination was performed and information was gathered using a validated data collection form. RESULTS: In one year, 140,380 live-infants were born at the selected hospitals. Of these, 177 were diagnosed with NSOFC giving an incidence of 1.26/1,000 live-births in Saudi Arabia and the highest incidence in Medina city (2.46/1000 live-births). The incidence of cleft lip-and-palate (0.67/1000 live-births) was higher than that of cleft-palate (0.37/1000 live-births) and cleft-lip (0.22/1000 live-births). Pierre-Robin Sequence incidence was (0.04/1000 live-births). There were 21(12.1) or 23(13.2%) of NSOFC's mothers exposed or vaccinated with Covid-19, respectively. CONCLUSION: The national incidence of NSOFC in Saudi Arabia was 1.26/1000 live births with variation between phenotypes and regions in the country. In addition, to reporting Covid-19 infection prevalence and vaccine exposure among NSOFC's mothers, this study represents the first of its type to evaluate NSOFC prevalence in Saudi Arabia on a national level.
