Abstract

Four studies reported an increasing incidence of pyloric stenosis during the late 1970s from geographically diverse areas of the United Kingdom. It was suggested that the increased incidence might be related to changes in infant feeding practices. We used data from the Metropolitan Atlanta Congenital Defects Program, a population based birth defects registry, to examine the secular trends and descriptive epidemiology of pyloric stenosis in a North American city. For the period 1968 to 1982, the incidence of pyloric stenosis was 1.33 per 1000 live births; there was no evidence of an increasing trend for either race or sex specific rates of pyloric stenosis. The descriptive epidemiology of the pyloric stenosis cases showed higher rates for males, whites, and infants of higher birth weight. We found no increasing trend in pyloric stenosis incidence in Atlanta, despite well documented changes in US infant feeding practices (an increased prevalence of breast feeding) during the 1970s.