[Fetal alcohol syndrome--case report]

Clinical picture of the fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) is described by the example of three girls aged 9, 11 and 11 years. Besides mild to moderate mental retardation, all the three girls had a number of physical anomalies characteristic of FAS. Inheritance as the possible cause of these defects was ruled out by genetic testing. Low birth weight, delay in the postnatal growth and development, microcephaly, hypertelorism, malformed and low-positioned auricles, as well as skeletal alterations, were observed in the three girls. In two of them, epicanthus, strabismus, microphtalmia, gothic palate, crossbite and arachnodactyly were also found. Progenia, cleft palate, aplasia of the uvula, wide root of the nose, saddle nose, enamel hypoplasia, dermatoglyphic alterations, and cutaneous syndactyly and clinodactyly of the fifth finger were recorded in single cases each. One girl suffered from epilepsy. The orofacial region is especially affected in children with FAS, which necessitates specific dental care. Due to decreased intellectual abilities of such children, their treatment is particularly difficult and requires specific approach and methods of work.