Screening for alcohol abuse in pregnancy

Abstract

The fetal alcohol syndrome has been thought to be the main hazard of alcohol abuse in pregnancy. It occurs only in women who regularly consume more than 100 g alcohol daily, and such drinking is usually obvious. The possible consequences of more moderate alcohol consumption-such as second trimester abortion, low birth weight, and delayed achievement of developmental goals-have received less attention and detection of these more moderate rates of consumption (30-80 g alcohol daily) is more difficult. Laboratory tests for the detection of excessive drinking have been undertaken almost exclusively in alcoholics or in male heavy drinkers and there are no data to show whether these tests are of value in detecting potentially harmful levels of alcohol consumption in pregnancy. We assessed the value of γ-glutamyl transpeptidase and mean cell volume measurements in detecting potentially harmful rates of alcohol consumption during pregnancy.