Biomaterial Database

Effects of prenatal alcohol exposure on neuromotor and cognitive development during early childhood: a series of case reports. 1993

S R Harris, and J A Osborn, and J Weinberg, and C Loock, and K Junaid

School of Rehabilitation Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.

The purpose of this article is to present a series of case reports of infants and young children who were exposed to alcohol prenatally. The five infants and two 5-year-old twins in this series all presented facial features characteristic of prenatal alcohol exposure, and all had medical histories of maternal alcohol abuse. The neuromotor and cognitive development of these seven children is described by presenting results of standardized tests administered longitudinally. In addition, clinical observations of growth, behavior, feeding, and musculoskeletal development are provided. Following a discussion of these assessment results, implications for physical therapy intervention and the need for clinical research are provided. Because children with fetal alcohol syndrome or alcohol-related birth defects present a spectrum of developmental differences that often include areas of concern to physical therapists, we need to increase our involvement in the assessment and treatment of these children as well as in research efforts to examine the efficacy of these interventions.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D007223	Infant	A child between 1 and 23 months of age.	Infants
D008297	Male		Males
D009048	Motor Skills	Performance of complex motor acts.	Motor Skill,Skill, Motor,Skills, Motor
D011247	Pregnancy	The status during which female mammals carry their developing young (EMBRYOS or FETUSES) in utero before birth, beginning from FERTILIZATION to BIRTH.	Gestation,Pregnancies
D002658	Developmental Disabilities	Disorders in which there is a delay in development based on that expected for a given age level or stage of development. These impairments or disabilities originate before age 18, may be expected to continue indefinitely, and constitute a substantial impairment. Biological and nonbiological factors are involved in these disorders. (From American Psychiatric Glossary, 6th ed)	Child Development Deviations,Child Development Disorders,Child Development Disorders, Specific,Developmental Delay Disorders,Disabilities, Developmental,Development Disorders, Child,Child Development Deviation,Child Development Disorder,Development Deviation, Child,Development Deviations, Child,Development Disorder, Child,Developmental Delay Disorder,Developmental Disability,Deviation, Child Development,Disability, Developmental
D002675	Child, Preschool	A child between the ages of 2 and 5.	Children, Preschool,Preschool Child,Preschool Children
D003071	Cognition	Intellectual or mental process whereby an organism obtains knowledge.	Cognitive Function,Cognitions,Cognitive Functions,Function, Cognitive,Functions, Cognitive
D005260	Female		Females
D006801	Humans	Members of the species Homo sapiens.	Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D063647	Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders	An umbrella term used to describe a pattern of disabilities and abnormalities that result from fetal exposure to ETHANOL during pregnancy. It encompasses a phenotypic range that can vary greatly between individuals, but reliably includes one or more of the following: characteristic facial dysmorphism, FETAL GROWTH RETARDATION, central nervous system abnormalities, cognitive and/or behavioral dysfunction, BIRTH DEFECTS. The level of maternal alcohol consumption does not necessarily correlate directly with disease severity.	Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder,Alcohol Related Neurodevelopmental Disorder,Alcohol-Related Birth Defects,FAE (Fetal Alcohol Effects),FASD,Fetal Alcohol Syndrome,Growth Retardation, Facial Abnormalities, and Central Nervous System Dysfunction,Partial Fetal Alcohol Syndrome,Alcohol Related Birth Defects,Birth Defects, Alcohol-Related,FAEs (Fetal Alcohol Effects),FASDs,Syndrome, Fetal Alcohol