IN-UTERO EXPOSURE TO COCAINE - A REVIEW

Cocaine is now regarded as one of the most dangerous illicit drugs ava ilable today. A disturbing trend in the pattern of cocaine use is that groups long considered unlikely to be involved in drug use, including women of childbearing age, pregnant women, the pediatric age group, f etuses, and neonates, are showing an alarming increase in cocaine expo sure. Substantial data have been derived from clinical observations, c linical studies, and animal studies indicating that prenatal exposure to cocaine may have detrimental short-term and possibly long-term effe cts on the mother, the developing fetus, and the neonate. The effects attributed to cocaine may, however, be due to other substances (eg, al cohol) ingested by the drug-using woman, to prematurity, or to the env ironmental chaos in which the infant must develop. Prospective control led studies are needed to define further the effects of cocaine as dis tinct from other negative influences having an impact on the developin g fetus. the newborn, or the infant.