Infants exposed to alcohol prenatally: outcome at 3 and 7 months of age

To investigate early recognition of the consequences of alcohol exposure in utero, we studied 79 infants at the ages of 3 and 7 months. Twenty-nine of them were exposed to varying levels of maternal alcohol intake and 50 had no exposure and formed a control group. Special attention was paid to fetal alcohol syndrome-related facial features, neurological development and beh avioural performance of the infants. To monitor facial features, pictures w ere taken at 3 and 7 months of age. Significant differences in facial featu res were found between the alcohol-exposed and non-exposed children at 3 mo nths only. An age-adequate neurological examination showed no significant d ifference at 3 months but a significant difference at 7 months of age betwe en the alcohol-exposed infants and the controls. Mothers reported more misb ehaviour in the exposed than in the non-exposed group. These results indica te that it is possible to recognise alcohol-related defects within the Ist year of life thus allowing early intervention.