Brain dysmorphology in individuals with severe prenatal alcohol exposure

Our previous studies revealed abnormalities on structural MRI (sMRI) in sma ll groups of children exposed to alcohol prenatally, Microcephaly, dispropo rtionately reduced basal ganglia volume, and abnormalities of the cerebella r vermis and corpus callosum were demonstrated. The present study used sMRI to examine in detail the regional pattern of brain hypoplasia resulting fr om prenatal exposure to alcohol using a higher resolution imaging protocol and larger sample sixes than reported previously. Fourteen participants (me an 11.4 years; eight females, six males) with fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) and 12 participants (mean 14.8 years; four females, eight males) with prena tal exposure to alcohol (PEA) but without the facial features of FAS were c ompared to a group of 41 control participants (mean 12.8 years, 20 females, 21 males), Findings of significant microcephaly and disproportionately red uced basal ganglia volumes in the FAS group were confirmed. Novel findings were that in FAS participants, white matter volumes were more affected than gray matter volumes in the cerebrum, and parietal lobes were more affected than temporal and occipital lobes, Among subcortical structures, in contra st to the disproportionate effects on caudate nucleus, the hippocampus was relatively preserved in FAS participants. Differences between the PEA group and controls were generally non-significant; however, among a few of the s tructures most affected in FAS participants, there was some evidence for vo lume reduction in PEA participants as well, specifically in basal ganglia a nd the parietal lobe, There were no group differences in cerebral volume as ymmetries. Severe prenatal alcohol exposure appears to produce a specific p attern of brain hypoplasia.