Fetal mortality in oral cleft families(IV): the “doubling effect”

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Abstract
Fetal mortality data from Lancaster, Pennsylvania, Chicago, Illinois and Minneapolis, Minnesota [USA] are presented which support earlier findings in Indiana and Montreal [Canada] that a positive relationship exists between the degree of liability to malformation and the incidence of fetal deaths in probands'' sibships. The study involved 189 CL [cleft lip] sibships, 690 CLP [cleft lip and palate] sibships and 3416 pregnancies. On the basis of these data, which are derived from families of several different backgrounds of European ancestry, it is generalized that, proceeding from CL sibships to CLP sibships, there is a doubling effect on fetal mortality. The consistency of this finding in several population samples is impressive. The implications of this observation are discussed with reference to genetic counseling.