title: In utero exposure to cocaine: a review.
abstract: Cocaine is now regarded as one of the most dangerous illicit drugs available today. A disturbing trend in the pattern of cocaine use is that groups long considered unlikely to be involved in drug use, including women of childbearing age, pregnant women, the pediatric age group, fetuses, and neonates, are showing an alarming increase in cocaine exposure. Substantial data have been derived from clinical observations, clinical studies, and animal studies indicating that prenatal exposure to cocaine may have detrimental short-term and possibly long-term effects on the mother, the developing fetus, and the neonate. The effects attributed to cocaine may, however, be due to other substances (eg, alcohol) ingested by the drug-using woman, to prematurity, or to the environmental chaos in which the infant must develop. Prospective controlled studies are needed to define further the effects of cocaine as distinct from other negative influences having an impact on the developing fetus, the newborn, or the infant.
authors.affiliation: Yerkes Regional Primate Research Center, Emory University, Atlanta, Ga 30322.
authors.forename: J E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Ellis
authors.forename: L D
authors.initials: LD
authors.lastname: Byrd
authors.forename: W R
authors.initials: WR
authors.lastname: Sexson
authors.forename: C A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Patterson-Barnett
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002490:Central Nervous System / Q000187:drug effects / Q000196:embryology; D003042:Cocaine / Q000494:pharmacology*; D005314:Embryonic and Fetal Development / Q000187:drug effects*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D011247:Pregnancy; D011248:Pregnancy Complications / Q000139:chemically induced*; D011256:Pregnancy Outcome; D011297:Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000503:physiopathology*
chemical_list: D003042:Cocaine