Registration of congenital anomalies in Switzerland by EUROCAT

Since 1988 the epidemiological surveillance of congenital anomalies (malfor mations, chromosomal aberrations, metabolic diseases, hereditary diseases, neurosensorial defects, etc.) is carried out by the Swiss registry of EUROC AT (European Registry of Congenital Anomalies and Twins). Several Swiss can tons collaborate through their own local registry, transmitting data to the central registry in Lausanne. We present the main objectives and methods o f registration and give the global prevalence rates for the main malformati ons for 1996 and the period 1993-1996.