Ophthalmologic Findings in Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders - A Cohort Study From Childhood to Adulthood
Related Experiment Video
Updated: Dec 31, 2025
The Use of Trace Eyeblink Classical Conditioning to Assess Hippocampal Dysfunction in a Rat Model of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders
Published on: August 5, 2017
Emelie Gyllencreutz1, Eva Aring2, Valdemar Landgren3
1Department of Ophthalmology, Skaraborg Hospital, Skövde, Sweden; Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden.
Insights
Ophthalmologic issues like vision problems and strabismus are common in children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD). These vision impairments often continue into young adulthood, highlighting the need for ongoing eye exams.
Area of Science:
- Ophthalmology
- Pediatrics
- Neurodevelopmental Disorders
Background:
- Fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) are a group of conditions that can occur in a person whose mother drank alcohol during pregnancy.
- Ophthalmologic abnormalities are frequently observed in children diagnosed with FASD.
Purpose of the Study:
- To determine if ophthalmologic findings in children with FASD persist into young adulthood.
- To assess the long-term impact of FASD on visual health.
Main Methods:
- A prospective cohort study followed 30 children diagnosed with FASD.
- Participants were evaluated in childhood and again 13-18 years later.
- Ophthalmologic assessments included visual acuity, refraction, stereoacuity, strabismus, and fundus examination.
Main Results:
- Refractive errors, including astigmatism, were prevalent in both childhood and adulthood.
- Defective stereoacuity and heterotropia persisted into young adulthood.
- Increased retinal vessel tortuosity and optic nerve hypoplasia were noted in a significant proportion of participants.
Conclusions:
- Ophthalmologic findings in individuals with FASD are common and tend to persist from childhood into young adulthood.
- Ophthalmologic examinations are crucial for evaluating FASD in both children and young adults.
- Unlike facial features, ophthalmologic markers remain reliable indicators of FASD in adulthood.
Purpose:
To investigate whether ophthalmologic findings in children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) persist into young adulthood.
Design:
Prospective cohort study.
Methods:
Thirty children (13 female) adopted from eastern Europe to Sweden in the 1990s and diagnosed with FASD by a multidisciplinary team at the median age of 7.9 years were followed up by the same team 13-18 years later. Visual acuity (VA), refraction, stereoacuity, strabismus, ocular media, and fundus were investigated.
Results:
Median VA in right/left eye (OD/OS) was 20/32/20/32 (0.2/0.2 logMAR) in childhood and 20/22/20/20 (0.05/0.0 logMAR) in adulthood. Median (range) refraction OD/OS was +0.88/+1.25 (-8.75 to +4.75/-9.38 to +5.25) spherical equivalent diopter (D) in childhood and -0.25/-0.25 (-12 to +2.75/-13.25 to +2.63) in adulthood. Astigmatism (≥1 D) was the most common refractive error, in 13 (40%) and 14 (47%) subjects, respectively. Defective stereoacuity (>60 arc second) was noted in 20 subjects (67%) in childhood and 22 (73%) in adulthood. Heterotropia occurred in 12 subjects (40%) in childhood and 13 (43%) in adulthood. Increased tortuosity of the retinal vessels was found in 8 (27%) subjects in childhood vs 11 (37%) in adulthood. Optic nerve hypoplasia was recorded in 3 children and in 4 young adults.
Conclusions:
Ophthalmologic findings such as refractive errors, strabismus, and fundus abnormalities are frequent in children with FASD and persist into early adulthood. The facial features characteristic of FAS diminish with age, making a dysmorphology evaluation in adulthood less reliable. An ophthalmologic examination is an important part of the evaluation of FASD in childhood as well as in young adulthood.
