Natural history of the fetal alcohol syndrome: a 10-year follow-up of eleven patients

Abstract

Of the eleven children who were the first to be diagnosed as having the fetal alcohol syndrome ten years ago, two are now dead, one is lost to follow-up, and the remaining eight continue to be growth deficient and dysmorphic. With menarche, which occurred with normal timing, the female patients developed increased body fat. The mothers were all severe chronic alcoholics. Four of the eight known survivors are of borderline intelligence and have needed some remedial teaching. The other four are severely handicapped intellectually and need complete supervision outside the home. The degree of growth deficiency and intellectual handicap was directly related to the extent of craniofacial abnormalities. New features of the syndrome include dental malalignments, malocclusions, and eustachian tube dysfunction, which may relate embryologically to midface hypoplasia.