[Fetal alcohol syndrome: neurobehavioral effects of prenatal alcohol exposure].

Alcohol has been established as a teratogenic agent that in prenatal exposure can cause a variety of adverse pregnancy outcomes depending on dose, timing, and conditions of exposure. Although alcohol, like many other teratogenes, can cause alterations in morphology, growth, and neurobehavioral outcomes, this report focuses primarily on the latter effects. As with other teratogens causing neurobehavioral aberrations, the neurobehavioral effects of prenatal alcohol are produced at lower exposure levels than the morphologic or growth effects, and except in extreme cases, they are more devastating to the offspring. Neurobehavioral effects are difficult to measure, however, because their manifestations change with the age of the offspring, and because, at the current state of art, their measurement involves outcomes that can be exacerbated or ameliorated by postnatal experience. This report describes results of the studies on the long-term developmental and behavioral consequences of prenatal alcohol exposure.