History

The programme was initiated in 2000, but the registry started in 2003. It was then accepted as a member of the International Clearinghouse for Birth Defects Surveillance and Research (ICBDSR) in the 2006 annual meeting in Uppsala, Sweden. Tabriz Registry of Congenital Anomalies is now called TRoCA. Since 2012, TRoCA has been accepted as a "World Affiliate" member of the European network of registries for the epidemiologic surveillance of congenital anomalies (EUROCAT).

Size and Coverage

TRoCA is a hospital-based registry and situated in the North-West of Iran covering all births and children in three university hospitals in the city of Tabriz. This city is one of the three major cities in the country. The programme is based on approximately 60-70% of all births (15000 births per year) in the area.

Legislation and Funding

The programme has been financially supported by the National Public Health Management Centre (NPMC) as a research grant. TRoCA is located in the Alzahra University Hospital of Tabriz University of Medical Sciences.

Exposure Information

Some exposure information is currently available for mothers of all malformed infants. Other women giving births in all university hospitals with normal newborns routinely complete a similar form. They might be considered as matched control group.

Background information

General epidemiological data and basic characteristic information are available for all births.