[Clinical aspects, epidemiologic progression of fetal alcoholism: a current daily problem]

Foetal and neonatal consequences of exogenous intoxications are nowadays better apprehended especially regarding alcohol. Alcoholism during pregnancy is the cause of the syndrome of foetal alcoholism described in France by Lemoine in 1968 and then by Jones and Smith in 1973. The prevalence of the table is 1 out of 700 to 800 deliveries for the severe forms and concerns especially by not exclusively the most underprivileged sections of the population and shows in: -- a very specific dysmorphy of skull and face and other abnormalities which give to the face a singular and persistent aspect; -- various and frequent malformative abnormalities with a pronounced tendency for cardiopathy. Most of them are latent or of late discovery; -- a constant growth lateness which is also part of the table as well as prematurity and spontaneous abortion. Hypotrophy is moderate, total, and cerebral; -- effects on central nervous system: it is the third overall cause of mental lateness after trisomy and deficiency of neural canal. Other causes and themselves to alcohol to produce these effects that show themselves on badly affected children or dead in utero because of macroscopic and microscopic alterations of numerous cerebral structures. From a clinical view point, they show themselves by abnormalities of the neural canal, a decreasing of the crane perimeter, neonatal neurologic troubles due to deficiency in the first hours of life, followed during the second and third day by a table evoking a weaning syndrome. The evolution on a medium term is characterized by the persistence of the crane and skull dysmorphy modified by parents phenotype, a persistence of the growth lateness leading to dwarfism in the severe forms. In the moderate and medium form thinness and paleness are spectacular and malformations exist in 2/3 of the cases. The neurologic and behaving evolution is documented by some prospective studies. They tend to indicate the persistence for the severe forms of troubles concerning hyperactivity, lack of attention and decreasing of the crane perimeter as well as a main mental lateness in half of the cases. The study made in Roubaix shows that behaving and intellectual troubles are more pronounced when the dysmorphy is marked. The effects of alcohol lead to a syndrome of foetal alcoholism when the level of alcoholization is high which correspond to K. Sulik's experimental data in 1982. On the other hand, a relation dose-effect has not been yet demonstrated except for hypotrophy. This is the same for threshold-dose. There is no residual effects confirming that alcoholism and its intensity during pregnancy have a direct effect upon descendants. As a matter of fact after weaning and recovery children are again normal and normotroph. Pregnancy and especially delivery are privileged period for detection of maternal alcoholism and beginning of a prevention in a view to avoid. These effects during a later pregnancy.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)