Fetal alcohol syndrome

What it is

Fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) is a rare malformation syndrome caused by excessive maternal consumption of alcohol during pregnancy. It is characterized by prenatal and/or postnatal growth deficiency (weight and/or height <10th percentile), a unique cluster of minor facial anomalies (short palpebral fissures, flat and smooth philtrum, and thin upper lip) and severe central nervous system (CNS) abnormalities including microcephaly, and cognitive and behavioral impairment (intellectual disability, deficit in general cognition, learning and language, executive function, visual-spatial processing, memory, and attention).

Key facts

Prevalence

>1 / 1000 (South Africa)

Age of onset

Antenatal, Neonatal

Inheritance

Not applicable

Classified as

Malformation syndrome

Prevalence figures describe populations, not individuals, and are often estimates from a single study. Where the figure is an incidence or a birth prevalence, it says so.

Signs and symptoms

These ranges are how often a sign appears across everyone diagnosed, not a prediction for one person — most people have some of these and not others. Orphanet also records findings that are specifically absent in this disease; those are in the data but not listed here.

ICD-10 codes

Related health topics

Reached through the ICD-10 categories this disease is filed under, so these describe the broader group rather than this disease specifically.

Cross-references