title: Head growth in cocaine-exposed infants: relationship to neonate hair level.
abstract: Intrauterine brain growth retardation is the most common brain abnormality in infants of cocaine-abusing mothers. We report a cross-sectional study of "at-risk" pregnancies with 34 infants born to mothers urine positive for cocaine at delivery compared to 33 infants born to urine-negative mothers from the same clinic. Degree of cocaine exposure was assessed by radioimmunoassay of combined cocaine and benzoylecgonine (BE) levels in neonatal hair samples. Twenty-eight neonates were hair-positive for BE (mean 2507.40 +/- 1248.88 ng/g hair; range 716 to 5440 ng/g) and differed significantly from the control infants (n = 33) in head circumference and head growth percentiles. A negative correlation approaching significance was found between mean BE and head circumference (r = -.36; p < .06) in the group of newborns with hair positive for BE (n = 28). The study demonstrates for the first time head growth abnormalities in association with levels of cocaine exposure.
authors.affiliation: Center for Drug and Alcohol Programs, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston 29425, USA.
authors.forename: F R
authors.initials: FR
authors.lastname: Sallee
authors.forename: L P
authors.initials: LP
authors.lastname: Katikaneni
authors.forename: P D
authors.initials: PD
authors.lastname: McArthur
authors.forename: H M
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Ibrahim
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Nesbitt
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Sethuraman
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003042:Cocaine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000032:analysis*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006197:Hair / Q000737:chemistry*; D006257:Head / Q000002:abnormalities*; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D008425:Maternal Behavior; D009294:Narcotics; D011247:Pregnancy; D011297:Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis
chemical_list: D009294:Narcotics; C005618:benzoylecgonine; D003042:Cocaine