Changing incidence of anencephaly in the eastern Black Sea region of Turkey and Chernobyl

The incidence of neural tube defects (NTD) was 2.12 per 1000 births and that of anencephaly was 1.29 per 1000 births when we reviewed the 40,997 consecutive births between 1981 and 1986 in the major maternity hospital in the eastern Black Sea region of Turkey. There was a significant increase in the incidences of NTD and anencephaly after 1986 to 4.39 and 2.46 per 1000 births respectively (P less than 0.0001; P less than 0.005). Although this might be a coincidence, it may be due to the nuclear contamination of the region following the Chernobyl accident.