Peripheral nerve conduction abnormalities in children exposed to alcohol in utero☆

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Abstract

Objective

We performed a longitudinal study of nerve conduction velocity to determine the effect of prenatal alcohol exposure on the peripheral nervous system.

Study design

We studied 17 children exposed to >2 oz of absolute alcohol/day prenatally and 13 unexposed children, identified prospectively from a cohort of pregnant women screened during prenatal care. Nerve conduction assessment was done on the median, ulnar, peroneal and tibial nerves during the newborn period and between 12 and 14 months of age.

Results

At both assessments the alcohol-exposed subjects had significantly slower ulnar motor nerve velocity (P = .007), smaller proximal (P = .018) and distal amplitude (P = .051). They also showed reduced tibial nerve velocity (P = .06) and a decrease in distal amplitude.

Conclusions

This study demonstrates that prenatal alcohol exposure is associated with abnormalities in nerve electrical properties, and that the pattern is different from that seen in adults. Electrophysiologic abnormalities in peripheral nerves should be added to the problems found in children of alcohol abusing mothers.

Section snippets

Subjects

The infants included in this study were term neonates evaluated in a prospective study of the effects of prenatal exposure to alcohol on offspring of heavy drinking mothers in Chile—The NICHD–University of Chile Alcohol In Pregnancy Study. The infants were classified into two groups, those exposed to alcohol in utero, and unexposed controls. Alcohol exposure was identified prenatally by screening, generally at the first prenatal visit. Those suspected of heavy drinking had a follow-up home

Results

There were 17 offspring of heavy alcohol-drinking mothers and 13 offspring of nondrinking mothers studied. The alcohol-exposed group contained 10 males and 7 females; the unexposed group contained 6 males and 7 females. The birth weight range was 2630 g to 4080 g for the alcohol-exposed group and 2690 g to 3830 g for the unexposed group. The alcohol-exposed and control groups did not differ significantly in maternal age (21.8±6.7 and 24.8±9.6 years, respectively), parity (11 [64.7%] and 10

Discussion

We report on electrophysiologic study of the peripheral nervous system in neonates and young children exposed to alcohol in utero. Alcohol-exposed children showed a significant reduction in both nerve-conduction velocity and amplitude in the newborn period that persisted at one year of age. Changes were present in both the ulnar and tibial nerves, and reflect both myelin involvement (reduced velocity) and axonal damage (decreased amplitude).

The absence of statistically significant differences

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Supported by Protocol/Project Number OHSR-96-04, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), National Institutes of Health.

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