Maternal risk factors for fetal alcohol syndrome and partial fetal alcohol syndrome in South Africa: a third study.

Objectives: This is a third exploration of risk factors for the two most severe forms of fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD), fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) and Partial FAS (PFAS), in a South African community with the highest reported prevalence of FAS in the world.

Methods: In a case control design, interview and collateral data concerning mothers of 72 first grade children with FAS or PFAS are compared with 134 randomly selected maternal controls of children from the same schools.

Results: Significant differences were found between the mothers of FASD children and controls in socio-economic status, educational attainment, and a higher prevalence of FASD among rural residents.

A practical clinical approach to diagnosis of fetal alcohol spectrum disorders: clarification of the 1996 institute of medicine criteria.

Background: The adverse effects of alcohol on the developing human represent a spectrum of structural anomalies and behavioral and neurocognitive disabilities, most accurately termed fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD). The first descriptions in the modern medical literature of a distinctly recognizable pattern of malformations associated with maternal alcohol abuse were reported in 1968 and 1973. Since that time, substantial progress has been made in developing specific criteria for defining and diagnosing this condition.

The effects of propofol and sevoflurane on the QT interval and transmural dispersion of repolarization in children.

Prolongation of the QT interval is associated with torsades de pointes (TdP), especially in children or young adults with long QT syndromes. Susceptibility to TdP arises from increased transmural dispersion of repolarization (TDR) across the myocardial wall. Several anesthetic drugs prolong the QT interval, but their effect on TDR is unknown.