Expert review of neurotherapeutics
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Expert Rev Neurother · Jul 2003
Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder and ADHD: diagnostic implications and therapeutic consequences.
The first association between prenatal alcohol exposure and a teratogenic effect in the developing fetus was made in 1968 by pediatrician Paul Lemoine in France. A few years later, Jones and Smith defined the fetal alcohol syndrome which combined dysmorphic facial, growth and CNS features. The classic fetal alcohol syndrome has been recently reviewed. ⋯ Therefore, the presence of full fetal alcohol syndrome does not necessarily mean that the patient has the most severe CNS impairments. Genetic research has suggested that genetic factors may have a role in a modulating a woman's susceptibility to having a baby with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (specifically the full fetal alcohol syndrome subtype). Thus, genetic factors may increase the variability of the teratogenic effect of prenatal exposure to alcohol on the developing fetus.