Characteristics of children whose siblings have fetal alcohol syndrome or incomplete fetal alcohol syndrome.
OBJECTIVE
To describe the clinical features of American Indian children born just before and just after a sibling with fetal alcohol syndrome or incomplete fetal alcohol syndrome.


METHODS
Two retrospective case-control studies were conducted of Northern Plains American Indian children with fetal alcohol syndrome or incomplete fetal alcohol syndrome identified from 1981 to 1993 by using International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification code 760.71.


RESULTS
Compared with the controls, the 39 siblings born just before children with fetal alcohol syndrome (study 1) and 30 siblings born just before children with incomplete fetal alcohol syndrome (study 2) had more facial dysmorphology (23.1% and 16.7%, respectively), growth delay (38.5% and 10.0%), and central nervous system impairment (48.7% and 33.3%). The 20 siblings born just after children with fetal alcohol syndrome (study 1) and 22 siblings born just after children with incomplete fetal alcohol syndrome (study 2) had more facial dysmorphology (20.0% and 9.1%, respectively), growth delay (45.0% and 22.7%), and central nervous system impairment (50.0% and 31.8%) than the control siblings.


CONCLUSIONS
The "before" siblings had characteristics of fetal alcohol syndrome that could have predicted that the next child was at risk for fetal alcohol syndrome. The "after" siblings had better outcomes than the previous siblings with fetal alcohol syndrome, a finding that was associated with a decrease in maternal alcohol consumption during the after-sibling pregnancy.
Kvigne
Valborg L
VL
Aberdeen Area Indian Health Service, Aberdeen, South Dakota, USA. kvig6@aol.com
Leonardson
Gary R
GR
Borzelleca
Joseph
J
Neff-Smith
Martha
M
Welty
Thomas K
TK
D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D002653:Child Behavior Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D019465:Craniofacial Abnormalities / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D002658:Developmental Disabilities / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D063647:Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005581:Foster Home Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D007198:Indians, North American / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008297:Male; D011247:Pregnancy; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D035781:Siblings; D014481:United States