Recreational drugs and fetal gastroschisis: maternal hair analysis in the peri-conceptional period and during pregnancy

Abstract

Objective: To objectively measure individual recreational drug groups in maternal hair samples timed for the period of conception and different stages of pregnancy in expectant mothers with a diagnosis of fetal gastroschisis.

Design: Prospective observational study.

Setting: Tertiary level Fetal Medicine Unit in a University teaching hospital.

Population: Pregnant women with a diagnosis of fetal gastroschisis (n= 22) and a control group of women (n= 25) with a normal fetus.

Methods: Hair samples were cut from the vertex of the head of expectant mothers with a diagnosis of fetal gastroschisis and a matched control group in whom the fetus was normal. The samples were analysed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for individual drug groups. Confirmatory tests using gas chromatography with mass spectrometry (GCMS) were used.

Main outcome measures: Presence of recreational drug compounds in hair samples.

Results: In the group with fetal gastroschisis there were four proven positive cases for recreational drug abuse (18%) and there were none in the control group.

Conclusions: The incidence of recreational drug use in the peri-conceptional period and the first trimester by expectant mothers with a diagnosis of fetal gastroschisis is 18%. This association may be linked to the recent increase in the incidence of gastroschisis among younger mothers.