The causes

In this first part of the article we will start by stating that neonatal surgeries can be divided into:

· Surgeries for repairing malformations, main cause.

· Surgeries for complications of pathologies acquired during the first neonatal stage, generally related to difficult or premature births.

The first correspond to “congenital malformations”, named as such because it was believed they were caused by alterations during pregnancy. This is not currently true, since many genetic alterations have been found, meaning abnormally coded DNA since before the formation of fetal organs.

Even though there are clearly identified malformations, generated by different factors (teratogens, from the Latin terato: monster and gene: origin) during the first trimester of pregnancy, period in which the fetal organs are formed.

Could be:

· Infectious origin: these infections can pass through the placenta barrier. i.e.: toxoplasmosis, Chagas, syphilis, rubella, etc.

· Vitamin deficit,

· Ingestion of substances such as addictive drugs i.e.: cocaine, alcohol, etc. or medications such as thalidomide, which causes serious anatomical alterations of different fetal organs and was used for decades, until its prohibition, for decreasing the symptoms of hiperhemesis gravidica (excesive vomit during pregnancy).

· Radioactive origin. Unfortunately, most malformations are still of unknown origin.

Collaborated in this article: Dra. María Eugenia Sors

Neonatal surgery · Part II: Cardiovascular surgeries and microsurgeries in newborns.

Detecting infections such as Chagas Disease, Syphilis, etc. in pregnant women can prevent future damage to the babies.