Tobacco and alcohol use during pregnancy and risk of oral clefts

Objectives. This study examined the relationship between maternal tobacco a nd alcohol consumption during the first trimester of pregnancy and oral cle fts. Methods. Data were derived from a European multicenter case-control study i ncluding 161 infants with oral clefts and 1134 control infants. Results. Multivariate analyses showed an increased risk of cleft lip with o r without cleft palate associated with smoking (odds ratio [OR]= 1.79, 95% confidence interval [CI]= 1.07, 3.04) and an increased risk of cleft palate associated with alcohol consumption (OR = 2.28, 95% CI = 1.02, 5.09). The former risk increased with the number of cigarettes smoked. Conclusions. This study provides further evidence of the possible role of p revalent environmental exposures such as tobacco and alcohol in the etiolog y of oral clefts.