China's 4-Fold Surge in Congenital Abnormalities Amidst COVID-19

Research indicates a potential correlation between SARS-CoV-2 infection and fetal situs inversus, a congenital condition.

Chinese physicians have observed a heightened link between SARS-CoV-2 infection in early gestation and Situs Inversus, a congenital condition where internal organs exhibit a mirrored positioning ().

Situs inversus totalis (SIT) is a rare //congenital abnormality characterized by a mirror-image transposition of both the abdominal and the thoracic organs. This is a global defect of situs orientation and failure to generate normal left-right asymmetry. Frequency of situs inversus is 1:10,000 to 1:20,000 and is more frequent in males.

Surge in Fetal Situs Inversus Cases During COVID-19

Writing in a report published in the New England Journal of Medicine, the team stated that cases of fetuses with the rare congenital condition rose four-fold in the first seven months of 2023 post COVID. “We noted a striking increase in the number of cases of fetal situs inversus that were diagnosed by means of ultrasonography at our hospital several months after the “zero-COVID” policies in China were lifted,” said the researchers including from Tongji University and Shanghai Jiao Tong University in Shanghai, China.

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A notable fourfold increase in congenital abnormalities, particularly cases of fetal situs inversus, has been reported in China following the COVID-19 pandemic. #covid #birthdefects

The team of researchers determined the incidence of fetal situs inversus from January 2014 through July 2023 using clinical data from two obstetrical centres in different regions of China. During the first 7 months of 2023, the incidence of situs inversus -- diagnosed by means of routine ultrasonography at a gestational age of approximately 20 to 24 weeks, with no change having been made in the diagnostic protocol or physician training -- at these centres was over four times as high as the mean annual incidence from 2014 through 2022.

The incidence peaked in April 2023 and remained elevated through June 2023. Overall, 56 cases of situs inversus were identified from January 2023 through July 2023 (52 cases of situs inversus totalis and 4 cases of partial situs inversus).

“The increase followed the surge of SARS-CoV-2 infections that occurred after the zero-COVID policies were discontinued,” the researchers said. However, “no conclusions can be made regarding causality”, they added.

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