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Prenatal Tobacco and Maldevelopment of the Brain *
Author(s) -
TANAKA Harumi
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
congenital anomalies
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1741-4520
pISSN - 0914-3505
DOI - 10.1111/j.1741-4520.1997.tb00544.x
Subject(s) - maldevelopment , offspring , pregnancy , medicine , gestation , fetus , physiology , concomitant , tobacco smoke , tobacco use , obstetrics , environmental health , biology , anatomy , population , genetics
Maldevelopment of the brain in offspring whose mothers smoked during pregnancy is being evaluated and reviewed using our Japanese data. In addition to the criteria for the fetal tobacco syndrome (FTS), I proposed the term, “fetal tobacco effects (FTE)”, when the gestational age is <37 weeks. Maternal factors during pregnancy including coffee drinking or polydrug use, and malconditions, such as premature rupturing of the membranes or placental abnormalities, were present at higher frequencies in FTE than FTS, although the factors of smoking and light drinking during pregnancy did not differ between them. As an indicator of maldevelopment of the brain, CNS involvement was more frequent and severer in FTE than in FTS. These findings suggest that factors in addition to smoking causing reduction in the gestation period may contribute to CNS involvement. As to the concomitant effects of ethanol and tobacco on maldevelopment of the brain, CNS involvement was highest in the offspring of women who both smoked and drank heavily. In conclusion, based on the concept of FTE in addition to FTS, a causal relationship between prenatal smoking and maldevelopment of the brains of offspring has to be investigated, especially as to factors modifying the effects of tobacco during pregnancy.