Webster's New World Medical Dictionary

157
fertilization
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fetal alcohol effect
A condition in which a child
has some signs of fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) but
does not meet all of the necessary criteria for FAS
and there is a history of alcohol exposure before
birth. Abbreviated FAE. The Institute of Medicine
(IOM) has replaced the term FAE with the terms
alcohol-related birth defects (ARBD) and alcohol-
related neurodevelopmental disabilities (ARND),
which together with FAS make up the fetal alcohol
spectrum disorders (FASDs). ARNDs and ARBDs
can still have severe and lifelong consequences for
the child, including mental retardation and facial
malformation. See also 
fetal alcohol spectrum dis-
orders; fetal alcohol syndrome.
fetal alcohol spectrum disorders
Conditions
reflecting the possible effects of prenatal exposure
to alcohol. Abbreviated FASDs. The FASDs include
fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS), alcohol-related birth
defects (ARBDs), and alcohol-related neurodevel-
opmental disabilities (ARNDs). See also 
fetal alco-
hol syndrome.
fetal alcohol syndrome
A syndrome of damage
that occurs to a child before birth as a result of the
mother drinking alcohol during pregnancy.
Abbreviated FAS. FAS always involves brain damage,
impaired growth, and head and face abnormalities.
FAS is one of the leading causes of mental retarda-
tion in the US. FAS is the extreme end of the fetal
alcohol spectrum disorders (FASDs), the terms
used to describe the range of effects that prenatal
exposure to alcohol may have. In addition to FAS,
the FASDs also include conditions in which the indi-
viduals have some, but not all, of the characteristics
of FAS. These conditions include alcohol-related
birth defects (ARBD) and alcohol-related neurode-
velopmental disabilities (ARND). Besides education
of women and surgery on children with FAS to cor-
rect major physical defects, there is no treatment for
FAS. No amount of alcohol has been proven safe
during pregnancy. To establish the diagnosis of FAS,
the following signs must be present: small size and
weight before and after birth (pre- and postnatal
growth retardation); evidence of brain delay in
development, intellectual impairment, or neuro-
logic abnormalities; and specific appearance of the
head and face. At least two of the following groups
of signs must be present: small head size (micro-
cephaly); small eyes (microphthalmia) and/or
short eye openings (palpebral fissures); and under-
development of the upper lip, indistinct groove
between the lip and nose (the philtrum), and flat-
tened cheekbones. See also 
fetal alcohol spectrum
disorders.