objective(s): this study aimed to find out whether the chick cardiomyocyte micromass (mm) system could be employed to predict the teratogenecity of common environmental factors. different multivitamins and over the counter drugs were used in this study.   materials and methods: white leghorn 5-day-old embryo hearts were dissected and trypsinized to produce a cardiomyocyte cell suspension in dul...

BACKGROUND Valproate, thalidomide and alcohol (ethanol) exposure during the first trimester of pregnancy is known to cause several developmental disorders. All these teratogens are known to pass the placental barrier and interfere directly with the normal development of the fetus. However, these teratogens also alter the formation and function of the placenta itself which may in turn affect the...

Our society's expectations of perfect babies, coupled with a belief that someone should be held responsible for birth defects, makes legal action on behalf of congenitally malformed infants common. In some instances the alleged cause of the malformation is exposure to drugs, industrial chemicals, radiation, or infectious agents. A convenient source of pertinent information on the etiology, path...

Our society's expectations of perfect babies, coupled with a belief that someone should be held responsible for birth defects, makes legal action on behalf of congenitally malformed infants common. In some instances the alleged cause of the malformation is exposure to drugs, industrial chemicals, radiation, or infectious agents. A convenient source of pertinent information on the etiology, path...

r r a t o g e n s are substances that cause birth defects. Although nongenetic deformities have been recorded throughout human history, evidence that they could be caused by exposure to toxic chemicals did not appear until the 1930s, and it was the 1961 Thalidomide episode that generated today’s public concern over teratogenic chemicals. Compounds as chemically diverse as vitamin D, quinine, as...

We report a patient with fetal hydantoin syndrome and hypoplastic left heart. Only three other cases with this association have been described. This case also highlights the importance genetic variation plays in the phenotypic variability of teratogens and the importance of good prenatal care to minimize risk of teratogenesis.

Teratogens are responsible for a large number of congenital abnormalities. The repercussions ignorance to the agents pregnant person could possibly be exposed can result in irreversible malformation fetus. This paper uses studies done by National Institutes Health (NIH) and Centers Disease Control Prevention (CDC) explore three major teratogenic agents--alcohol, smoking, drugs--and effects they...

QUESTION One of my patients, whom I had treated with a 2-week course of zopiclone for insomnia, conceived while using the medication. She is concerned. How should I advise her? ANSWER Based on available, albeit limited, evidence, zopiclone does not appear to be a major human teratogen.

September 18-19 2005 MALTA ICBDSR – MALTA, September 2005

An 11-month-old boy was discovered to have a cleft palate, club foot, hypospadias, and myoclonic seizures. No in utero exposure to teratogens was identified. Brain MR imaging revealed a middle interhemispheric fusion variant of holoprosencephaly, diffuse polymicrogyria, and a hypoplastic brain stem; this was a distinctly unusual association of findings. We hypothesize that an unknown genetic fa...