TAMPA, FLA. -- Children who were exposed to isotretinoin in utero but appear normal at birth are still at risk for later appearance of cognitive impairment and difficulties in psychosocial functioning, Dr. Jennifer Anne Lantz Gavin said at a meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development.
Exposure to this isotretinoin is linked to high rates of spontaneous abortion, premature birth, and major malformations of craniofacial, cardiac, thymic, and CNS structures.
Long-term follow-up of 10 boys born without any of these more obvious disabilities has found that their psychosocial development at 10 years is similar to that of children with nonverbal learning disabilities and cerebellar mal-formation syndromes such as Joubert syndrome and spina bifida. Cerebellar abnormalities characterizing these conditions include hypoplasia and microdysgenesis.
Specific patterns of verbal strengths and visual-spatial difficulties appear at age 5 in studies of children with embryonic exposure to isotretinoin. These patterns remain constant 5 years later, said Dr. Lantz Gavin of the University of Massachusetts, Boston.
The IQ scores of the exposed boys were significantly lower, compared with scores of 20 unexposed controls (87.7 vs. 109.8), as measured on the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children.
COPYRIGHT 2003 International Medical News Group
COPYRIGHT 2003 Gale Group
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