Muhammad Talal Alrifai, Robert C Woody.
Marriage patterns and pediatric neurologic disease in Damascus, Syria
Pak J Neurological Sci Sep 2007;2(3):136-40.
Department of Pediatrics, Damascus Children`s Hospital, University of Damascus, Damascus, Syria

Aim : The aim of this study was to correlate the presence of neurologic disorders in Syrian children with parental consanguinity and investigate the cultural patterns which result in endogamy. Methods: We examined 128 patients and 132 control children who were matched for age, sex, and place of residence. Parental marital patterns were established. Results: Consanguineous marriages were seen in 62.5% of the case group and 33.3% of the control group (P=0.006). Patients were classified into 6 groups: (1) seizure disorder (n=22); (2) developmental delay (n=35); (3) seizures and developmental delay (n=20); (4) neurometabolic disorders (n=29); (5) CNS malformations (n=14); and neuromuscular or spinocerebellar disorders (n=8). Consanguinity was a risk factor for development of neurologic disease in the following categories: developmental delay (p=0.003), seizures with developmental delay (p=0.018), neurometabolic degenerative disorder (p=0.0001), and CNS malformations (p=0.035). Inbreeding coefficients calculated for these subclasses gave similar findings. The inbreeding coefficient (F) for the cases group is 0.0312 and for the control group is 0.0147. Conclusion: Endogamous marriages carry a considerably high risk for developing neurologic diseases.

Category: Pediatrics
Keywords: Seizures. Congenital Malformations.

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