A preliminary follow-up of 8 children diagnosed fetal alcohol syndrome in infancy.

Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) has been recognized as a serious developmental problem occurring in some offspring of alcoholic women. A broad range of intellectual deficits has been reported in children with FAS, but most of these children have been identified in early childhood, when developmental retardation is evident. However, FAS can be diagnosed from birth on the basis of growth deficiency and certain morphological characteristics, as well as a history of maternal alcoholism. Eight children, who were given a diagnosis of FAS at birth or within the first eight months of life and who were available for follow-up in 1980, constituted the sample for the present clinical study. These children, ranging in age from 14 months to 6-3/4 years on last follow-up were given age-appropriate developmental or IQ tests. The means IQ score of these eight children at last follow-up was 76 (range 40--107).