Abstract
To identify the presence of fetal alcohol syndrome, other alcohol-related congenital defects, and/or neurodevelopment disorders in newborns of mothers who consumed alcohol during gestation. In a public maternity in the city of São Paulo, 1,964 puerperal women were interviewed and 654 had consumed alcohol at some point during gestation. The newborns were clinically and laboratorially examined in order to identify the occurrence of fetal alcohol syndrome, congenital defects or neurodevelopment disorders related to alcohol. Three children were found with fetal alcohol syndrome (1.5/1,000 live births), 6 with congenital defects related to alcohol (3.0/1,000 live births), and 67 with developmental disorders related to alcohol (34.1/1,000 live births). The congenital malformations found in these children were thin or absent corpus callosum, brain cyst, asymmetry of the cerebral ventricles, meningomyelocele, cleft lip, anteverted nose, low-set ears, megaureter, hydronephrosis, polydactyly, congenital clubfoot, aphalangia of the toes, cryptorchidism, and hypospadia. Newborns of mothers who consumed alcohol may have congenital malformations of various organs and systems, and early diagnosis is fundamental for a probable and occasional more effective resolution and progress.
Highlights
In 1996, the U.S Institute of Medicine (IOM) of the National Academy of Sciences. in Washington, DC, with the intent of standardizing nomenclature related to the effects of alcohol on the newborn, introduced the terms: alcohol-related birth defects (ARBD), and alcohol-related neurodevelopmental disorders (ARND), describing conditions related to the maternal use of alcohol that are not found in the fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS)[11]
The same was true for those transferred to another hospital before the physical examination, those whose mothers died before the interview, those who were not the first twin, and the infants of puerperal women who refused to participate in the study
Comparing the results of newborn variables with those of puerperal women as to alcohol consumption allowed the diagnosis of FAS in three newborns (1.5/1,000 live births), the identification of ARBD in 6 newborns
Summary
The consumption of alcoholic beverages by a pregnant woman may cause in the fetus numerable deleterious effects[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9], constituting a severe clinical picture called fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS), or a group of more subtle cognitive and/or behavioral dysfunctions[7,10]. When the pregnant woman ingests alcohol, her baby drinks it, meaning that during all gestation any dose of consumed alcohol may cause alterations in development[10]. To date, it is not known if there is a safe level of alcohol consumption, i.e., a limit under which no fetal damage would be caused[5].
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