title: Occurrence of strabismus in infants born to drug-dependent women.
abstract: Maternal drug abuse during pregnancy exposes the fetus to the possibility of toxic or addicting effects. At a methadone hydrochloride maintenance program providing medical care to drug-dependent women and their infants, ophthalmologic examinations of all infants born during a 36-month period were performed. Twenty-nine infants prenatally exposed to psychoactive drugs were seen at birth and on follow-up. The 24% prevalence of strabismus found in the drug-exposed infants was significantly greater than that of 2.8% to 5.3% reported in the general population. These data suggest that maternal drug abuse and increased methadone dosage during pregnancy may predispose infants to the development of strabismus.
mesh_terms: D005260:Female; D006556:Heroin Dependence / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D008691:Methadone / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D011247:Pregnancy; D011248:Pregnancy Complications / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D011619:Psychotropic Drugs; D013285:Strabismus / Q000209:etiology*; D013375:Substance Withdrawal Syndrome / Q000209:etiology*; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000534:rehabilitation*
chemical_list: D011619:Psychotropic Drugs; D008691:Methadone