Fetal Alcohol Syndrome

The fetal alcohol syndrome is the third most common recognizable cause of mental retardation in the United States. Many of the features of the fetal alcohol syndrome are secondary to the effect of alcohol on brain development. These include microcephaly, short palpebral fissures, the long smooth philtrum and thin vermilion of the upper lip, joint anomalies, altered palmar crease pattern, and mental retardation. Approximately 40% of babies born to alcoholic women and 11% of babies born to nonalcoholic moderately drinking women have evidence of the prenatal effect of alcohol. Alcohol, like other teratogens, causes a spectrum of defects. Thus, affected children may show great variability from the fullblown fetal alcohol syndrome to much milder effects of alcohol, some of which may not be obvious until school age. A "safe" amount of alcohol probably does not exist for the pregnant woman. Depending on unknown factors, what may be a "safe" amount for some women, may be devastating to the unborn baby of another. Two factors, the severity of the maternal alcoholism and the extent and severity of the pattern of malformation, seem to be most predictive of the ultimate prognosis for children with the fetal alcohol syndrome. Any decision to file child abuse changes against a mother whose baby was prenatally exposed to alcohol should be based on the parents ability to provide a stable home environment and not on whether the baby has features of the fetal alcohol syndrome. The fetal alcohol syndrome, the third most common recognizable cause of mental retardation, is completely preventable. All attempts must be made to educate people regarding the deleterious effect of alcohol.