Brain volume in Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders over a 20-year span

Anomalous brain development and mental health problems are prevalent in fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD), but there is a paucity of longitudinal brain imaging research into adulthood. Researchers investigated whether cortical volumes decline faster in individuals with a fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) than unaffected controls over 20 years from adolescence to middle age.
A cohort study used magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data collected from individuals with FASD and control individuals (age 13-37 years at first magnetic resonance imaging [MRI1] acquired 1997-2000) compared with data collected 20 years later (MRI2; 2018-2021). Participants were recruited for MRI1 through the University of Washington Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) Follow-Up Study. For MRI2, former participants were recruited by the University of Washington Fetal Alcohol and Drug Unit. Data were analysed from October 2022 to August 2023.
Intracranial volume (ICV) and regional cortical and cerebellar gray matter, white matter, and cerebrospinal fluid volumes were quantified automatically and analysed, with group and sex as between-participant factors and age as a within-participant variable.
Of 174 individuals with MRI1 data, 66 individuals (37.9%) were rescanned for MRI2, including 26 controls, 18 individuals with nondysmorphic heavily exposed fetal alcohol effects (FAE; diagnosed prior to MRI1), and 22 individuals with FAS. Mean (SD) age was 22.9 (5.6) years at MRI1 and 44.7 (6.5) years at MRI2, and 35 participants (53%) were male. The FAE and FAS groups exhibited enduring stepped volume deficits at MRI1 and MRI2; volumes among control participants were greater than among participants with FAE, which were greater than volumes among participants with FAS. Despite these persistent volume deficits, the FAE participants and FAS participants showed patterns of neurodevelopment within reference ranges: increase in white matter and decrease in gray matter of the cortex and decrease in white matter and increase in gray matter of the cerebellum.
The study findings support a nonaccelerating enduring, brain structural dysmorphic spectrum following prenatal alcohol exposure and a diagnostic distinction based on the degree of dysmorphia. FASD was not a progressive brain structural disorder by middle age, but whether accelerated decline occurs in later years remains to be determined. These findings suggest a sustained spectrum of brain volume deficits endured from adolescence into early middle age based on the original severity of dysmorphia and a diagnostic distinction between fetal alcohol syndrome and alcohol-related neurodevelopment disorder.
Source: Pfefferbaum A, Sullivan EV, Pohl KM, Bischoff-Grethe A, Stoner SA, Moore EM, Riley EP. Brain Volume in Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders Over a 20-Year Span. JAMA Netw Open. 2023 Nov 1;6(11):e2343618.