Epidemiological survey of 214 families with bladder exstrophy-epispadias complex.

We sought to identify causative nongenetic and genetic risk factors for the bladder exstrophy-epispadias complex.A total of 237 families with the bladder exstrophy-epispadias complex were invited to participate in the study, and information was obtained from 214 families, mainly from European countries.Two families showed familial occurrence. Male predominance was found among all subgroups comprising epispadias, classic bladder exstrophy and cloacal exstrophy, with male-to-female ratios of 1.4:1, 2.8:1 and 2.0:1, respectively (p = 0.001). No association with parental age, maternal reproductive history or periconceptional maternal exposure to alcohol, drugs, chemical noxae, radiation or infe…