title: Is there a cocaine syndrome? Dysmorphic and anthropometric assessment of infants exposed to cocaine.
abstract: It was suggested that a "fetal cocaine syndrome" exists. The objective of this study was to systematically investigate whether or not a "cocaine syndrome" exists. The setting was Parkland Memorial Hospital, a large urban public hospital in Dallas, TX, where approximately 15,000 infants are delivered annually. Infants who tested positive by urinalysis for cocaine (n = 25) were included in this study. Controls negative for cocaine (n = 25) were matched to cocaine-exposed infants for estimated gestational age, sex, and race. A standardized dysmorphology examination (135 features) and a series of anthropometric measures (n = 22) were done for each cocaine-exposed and control infant by an observer blinded to drug-exposure status. Fetal growth retardation characterized cocaine-exposed infants. No characteristic pattern of minor dysmorphic or anthropometric features of the face, limbs, or torso was observed among cocaine-exposed infants. Cocaine-exposed infants lack a facial gestalt or torso/limb features that would characterize a syndrome. If a "cocaine syndrome" that can be characterized dysmorphologically and/or anthropometrically exists, its occurrence seems infrequent.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX 75235-9032, USA.
authors.forename: B B
authors.initials: BB
authors.lastname: Little
authors.forename: G N
authors.initials: GN
authors.lastname: Wilson
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Jackson
mesh_terms: D000014:Abnormalities, Drug-Induced; D001724:Birth Weight; D003042:Cocaine; D002658:Developmental Disabilities / Q000139:chemically induced*; D019066:Facies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D011247:Pregnancy; D013577:Syndrome
chemical_list: D003042:Cocaine