Alcohol use before and during pregnancy in western Washington, 1989-2004: implications for the prevention of fetal alcohol spectrum disorders.

Objective: We examined trends in rates of self-reported pregnancy alcohol use among women in western Washington.

Study Design: Between 1989 and 2004, we conducted 3 studies in western Washington State on problems that are associated with maternal prenatal alcohol or drug abuse (n = 12,526). To determine study eligibility, we screened hospitalized postpartum women for alcohol and drug use in the month before and during pregnancy.

Many infants prenatally exposed to high levels of alcohol show one particular anomaly of the corpus callosum.

Introduction: Effects of prenatal alcohol exposure on the brain are seen at every age. The earlier they can be quantified, the better the prognosis for the affected child. Here we show measurable alcohol effects at birth on a structure currently used for nosology only much later in life.

Binge drinking during pregnancy as a predictor of psychiatric disorders on the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV in young adult offspring.

Objective: This study explored the extent to which the high frequency of psychiatric problems reported in clinical groups with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders might also be observed in a nonclinical group of young adults and the psychiatric conditions that are related to prenatal alcohol exposure in this group.

Method: From a longitudinal prospective study beginning with interviews of 1,529 pregnant women, a birth cohort of about 500 newborns was chosen to include all of the most heavily alcohol exposed plus a sampling of the continuum of alcohol exposures from total abstinence through heavy drinking. At an average age of 25.

Preliminary evidence that prenatal alcohol damage may be visible in averaged ultrasound images of the neonatal human corpus callosum.

Brain damage consequent to prenatal alcohol exposure can be detected by measurements of the corpus callosum in the midline magnetic resonance (MR) brain image in adolescents and adults. The present article extends this finding into the neonatal period, when the power of detection to ameliorate the quality of the child's future life is greatest. The midline corpus callosum of the very young infant can be located reliably in multiple frames of clinical transfontanelle ultrasound.

Effects of prenatal alcohol exposure on fine motor coordination and balance: A study of two adult samples.

Motor coordination was assessed in two samples of adult subjects: one sample (n = 90) included adults previously diagnosed with one of a number of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) and comparison peers, the second was a prospective longitudinal study of adults who were exposed to varying levels of alcohol as fetuses (n = 402). This comparative analysis sought to determine whether motor effects seen in both clinical and nonclinical children persist into adulthood, whether any individual motor tasks show significant effects of prenatal alcohol exposure across the age range, and whether motor assessments of adults have any role in diagnostic strategies for adults suspected of FASD. Motor tests included balance and unilateral, bilateral, finger, hand and foot coordination.

Risk factors for adverse life outcomes in fetal alcohol syndrome and fetal alcohol effects.

Clinical descriptions of patients with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) and Fetal Alcohol Effects (FAE) suggest major problems with adaptive behavior. Five operationally defined adverse outcomes and 18 associated risk/protective factors were examined using a Life History Interview with knowledgeable informants of 415 patients with FAS or FAE (median age 14 years, range 6-51; median IQ 86, range 29-126). Eighty percent of these patients were not raised by their biological mothers.

A 21-year longitudinal analysis of the effects of prenatal alcohol exposure on young adult drinking.

Background: Prenatal alcohol exposure may be a risk factor for the development of alcohol problems in humans.

Methods: We use data beginning with interviews of women in prenatal care at midpregnancy to predict alcohol use and alcohol-related problems in their offspring now aged 21 years. Maternal drinking during pregnancy was assessed from November 4, 1974, through October 2, 1975, along with measures of maternal smoking, use of caffeine and other drugs, and demographic factors.

Corpus callosum shape and neuropsychological deficits in adult males with heavy fetal alcohol exposure.

Persons with brain damage consequent to prenatal alcohol exposure have typically been diagnosed with either fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) or fetal alcohol effects (FAE), depending on facial features. There is great variability of behavioral deficits within these groups. We sought to combine neuroanatomical measures with neurocognitive and neuromotor measures in criteria of greater sensitivity over the variety of consequences of alcohol exposure.