Work

The effect of prenatal alcohol co-exposure on neonatal abstinence syndrome in infants born to mothers in opioid maintenance treatment

Year: 2015

Type: article

Abstract: OBJECTIVE: This study examined the effects of prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) on the incidence and severity of neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS). STUDY DESIGN: For this pilot study, 70 pregnant women on opioid maintenance therapy (OMT) were recruited from a perinatal substance abuse clinic. Subjects were categorized into three study groups based on the timing of alcohol use during pregnancy as assessed by repeated self-reported measures and a comprehensive panel of ethanol biomarkers. NAS outcomes included: duration of hospital stay, the need for pharmacological treatment of NAS, newborn age at the initiation of NAS treatment, duration of treatment and cumulative methadone dose administered. RESULTS: The study included a large proportion of ethnic minorities (81.4% Hispanic, 5.7% American Indian), women with less than a high school education (52.2%) and unplanned pregnancy (82.9%). In multivariate analysis, PAE was not associated with NAS outcomes; however, one newborn diagnosed with fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) demonstrated much more severe NAS compared to other PAE infants. Interestingly, 3rd trimester PAE was associated with a higher prevalence of microcephaly (62.5%) compared to the PAE abstaining group (36.8%; p = 0.08). CONCLUSION: In this study, PAE was not associated with NAS severity; however, further examination in a larger study is needed.

Source: The Journal of Maternal-Fetal & Neonatal Medicine

DOI: 10.3109/14767058.2015.1018168