Fetus morphology changes by second‐trimester ultrasound in pregnant women drinking alcohol

Abstract

Fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASDs) are a group of negative conditions occurring in children exposed to alcohol during gestation. The early discovery of FASD is crucial for mother and infant follow-ups. In this study, we investigated in pregnant women the association between urine ethylglucuronide (EtG-a biomarker of alcohol drinking) and indicators of the physical characteristics of FASD by prenatal ultrasound in the second trimester of gestation. We also correlated these data with the AUDIT-C, T-ACE/TACER-3, TWEAK, and food habit diary, screening questionnaires used to disclose alcohol drinking during pregnancy. Forty-four pregnant women were randomly enrolled and examined for ultrasound investigation during the second trimester of gestation. Urine samples were provided by pregnant women immediately after the routine interviews. EtG determinations were performed with a cutoff established at 100 ng/mL, a value indicating occasional alcohol drinking. Fifteen of the enrolled pregnant women overcame the EtG cutoff (34.09%). Analysis of variance (ANOVA) revealed that the fetuses of the positive EtG pregnant women had significantly longer interorbital distance and also significantly increased frontothalamic distance (P's < 0.02). Quite interestingly, no direct correlation was found between EtG data and both food diary and AUDIT-C. However, a significant correlation was observed between urinary EtG and T-ACE (r = 0.375; P = 0.012) and between urinary EtG and TWEAK (r = 0.512; P < 0.001) and a concordance with all questionnaire for EtG values higher than 500 ng/mL. This study provides clinical evidence that the diagnosis of maternal alcohol consumption during pregnancy by urine EtG may disclose FASD-related damage in the fetus.

Knowledge and Practice towards Alcohol Consumption in a Sample of University Students

“…Another crucial point is that alcohol consumption during pregnancy has been shown to provoke in newborns fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD), the leading cause of mental retardation in western countries, and in the most severe case (FAS, fetal alcohol syndrome), physical dysmorphology [51][52][53][54] as shown in humans and FASD animal models [55][56][57][58][59][60][61][62]. The social costs of such preventable conditions are still countless.…”

Transgenerational Abnormalities Induced by Paternal Preconceptual Alcohol Drinking: Findings from Humans and Animal Models

“…The terminology FASD is officially adopted to identify a broader spectrum of presentations and disabilities resulting from prenatal alcohol exposure, including a range of categories referred to by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) as alcoholrelated neurodevelopmental disorders (ARND), alcohol-related birth defects (ARBD), the partial fetal alcohol syndrome (pFAS) and finally, the FAS, which is the most serious form [29]. The diagnosis of this clinical condition remains difficult [30][31][32][33][34], it requires a multidisciplinary team and is based on: screening in pregnant and postpartum women; referral of individuals for a possible FASD diagnosis whenever there is the suspect; support to promote abstinence from alcohol; medical assessment including compiling a social and medical history and complete physical examination and documentation that the biological mother consumed alcohol during the pregnancy; sentinel facial features; neurodevelopmental assessment in search of evidence of pervasive brain dysfunction [35].…”

A Healthy Gut for a Healthy Brain: Preclinical, Clinical and Regulatory Aspects

“…FASD is the most common cause of mental retardation developed in childhood, therefore totally avoidable, through the complete abstaining of the pregnant woman from the intake of alcohol [ 194 - 196 ]. The outcomes of alcohol on the fetus range from the absence of damage to abortion, including a spectrum of clinical expressions as neonatal congenital morphological defects and neurological development disruptions [ 195 , 197 , 198 ]. Although FASD is a quite common cause of mental disabilities, there are still no crystal data on its incidence leading to an underestimation of the problem.…”