Evidence map›Paper›PMID 21482652›Full record

ArticleCMAJ : Canadian Medical Association journal = journal de l'Association medicale canadienne2011

Corticosteroid use during pregnancy and risk of orofacial clefts.

Anders Hviid, Ditte Mølgaard-Nielsen

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in CMAJ : Canadian Medical Association journal = journal de l'Association medicale canadienne, 2011. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 81 papers, 10 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
81citing papers in PubMed, 10 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

81 citing papers in PubMed, 10 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

  1. Guideline
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  8. Guideline
  9. ACG Clinical Guideline: Liver Disease and Pregnancy.The American journal of gastroenterology · 2016
    Guideline
  10. Safety of topical corticosteroids in pregnancy.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2015
    Pooled it
  11. Review
  12. Conception, pregnancy and inflammatory bowel disease-Current concepts for the practising clinician.Indian journal of gastroenterology : official journal of the Indian Society of Gastroenterology · 2026
    Review
  13. Review
  14. Impact of sex on multiple sclerosis therapy.Neurotherapeutics : the journal of the American Society for Experimental NeuroTherapeutics · 2025
    Review
  15. Review
  16. Article
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21 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

2 authors.

Anders HviidDepartment of Epidemiology Research, Statens Serum Institut, Copenhagen, Denmark. aii@ssi.dk
Ditte Mølgaard-Nielsen

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundThe association between the risk of orofacial clefts in infants and the use of corticosteroids during pregnancy is unclear from the available evidence. We conducted a nationwide cohort study of all live births in Denmark over a 12-year period.

methodsWe collected data on all live births in Denmark from Jan. 1, 1996, to Sept. 30, 2008. We included live births for which information was available from nationwide health registries on the use of corticosteroids during pregnancy, the diagnosis of an orofacial cleft and possible confounders.

resultsThere were 832,636 live births during the study period. Exposure to corticosteroids during the first trimester occurred in 51,973 of the pregnancies. A total of 1232 isolated orofacial clefts (i.e., cleft lip, cleft palate, or cleft lip and cleft palate) were diagnosed within the first year of life, including 84 instances in which the infant had been exposed to corticosteroids during the first trimester of pregnancy. We did not identify any statistically significant increased risk of orofacial clefts associated with the use of corticosteroids: cleft lip with or without cleft palate, prevalence odds ratio (OR) 1.05 (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.80-1.38]; cleft palate alone, prevalence OR 1.23 (95% CI 0.83-1.82). Odds ratios for risk of orofacial clefts by method of delivery (i.e., oral, inhalant, nasal spray, or dermatologic and other topicals) were consistent with the overall results of the study and did not display significant heterogeneity, although the OR for cleft lip with or without cleft palate associated with the use of dermatologic corticosteroids was 1.45 (95% CI 1.03-2.05).

interpretationOur results add to the safety information on a class of drugs commonly used during pregnancy. Our study did not show an increased risk of orofacial clefts with the use of corticosteroids during pregnancy. Indepth investigation of the pattern of association between orofacial clefts and the use of dermatologic corticosteroids during pregnancy indicated that this result did not signify a causal connection and likely arose from multiple statistical comparisons.

Indexed as

Administration, TopicalAdolescentAdrenal Cortex HormonesAdultAnti-Inflammatory AgentsCleft LipCleft PalateCohort StudiesConfidence IntervalsDenmarkFemaleHumansLogistic ModelsMiddle AgedOdds RatioPregnancyAdrenal Cortex HormonesAnti-Inflammatory Agents

Identifiers

PMID21482652
PMCPMC3080529

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.