Vargesson Neil
School of Medicine, Medical Sciences and Nutrition, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, UK.
J Hand Surg Eur Vol. 2019 Jan;44(1):88-95. doi: 10.1177/1753193418805249. Epub 2018 Oct 18.
Thalidomide remains notorious as a result of the damage it caused to children born to mothers who used it to treat morning sickness between 1957 and 1961. The re-emergence of the drug to treat a range of conditions including erythema nodosum leprosum (a complication of leprosy) has led to a new generation of thalidomide damaged children being born in Brazil. Although thalidomide affects most of the developing tissues and organs of the body, the damage to the limbs is striking. Indeed phocomelia, the severe reduction or loss of the proximal long bones with retention of the distal hand/foot plate remains the stereotypical image of thalidomide. This review focuses on the type and range of damage thalidomide caused to the limbs, reviews current understanding of the mechanisms underlying thalidomide-induced limb malformations and outlines some of the challenges remaining in elucidating its teratogenicity.
由于在1957年至1961年间，沙利度胺被用于治疗孕吐，导致服用该药物的母亲所生的孩子受到损害，它至今仍臭名昭著。如今，沙利度胺再度出现，被用于治疗包括麻风结节性红斑（麻风病的一种并发症）在内的一系列病症，这导致巴西又出现了新一代因沙利度胺而身体受损的儿童。尽管沙利度胺会影响身体大部分正在发育的组织和器官，但对四肢的损害尤为明显。事实上，海豹肢症，即近端长骨严重缩短或缺失，而远端手足板保留，仍然是沙利度胺造成损害的典型形象。本综述重点关注沙利度胺对四肢造成的损害类型和范围，回顾目前对沙利度胺所致肢体畸形潜在机制的理解，并概述在阐明其致畸性方面仍存在的一些挑战。
