Criteria For FAS Diagnosis

Requires ALL THREE of the following finding:

  1. Documentation of all three facial abnormalities (smooth philtrum, thin vermillion border, and small palpebral fissures)
  2. Documentation of growth deficits
  3. Documentation of CNS abnormality

Note: Confirmed prenatal alcohol use can strengthen the evidence for and FAS diagnosis, but is not necessary in the presence of all other criteria.

  1. Facial Features
    Based on racial norms, individual exhibits all three characteristic facial features:


 

  1. Growth Problems
    Confirmed prenatal or postnatal height or weight, or both, at or below the 10th percentile, documented at any one point in time (adjusted for age, sex, gestational age, and race or ethnicity)
    http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/about/major/nhanes/growthcharts/clinical_charts.htm

  2. Central Nervous System Abnormalities
    Structural
    1. Head circumference at or below the 10th percentile adjusted for age and sex.
    2. Clinically significant brain abnormalities observable through imaging.

Neurological
Neurological problems not due to a postnatal insult or fever, or other soft neurological signs outside normal limits.

Functional
Performance substantially below that expected for an individual’s age, schooling, or circumstances, as evidenced by:

  1. Global cognitive or intellectual deficits representing multiple domains of deficit (or significant developmental delay in younger children) with performance below the 3rd percentile (2 standard deviations below the mean for standardized testing)

    2. OR

  2. Functional deficits below the 16th percentile (1 standard deviation below the mean for standardized testing) at least three of the following domains

      1. Cognitive or developmental deficits or discrepancies
      2. Executive functioning deficits
      3. Motor functioning delays
      4. Problems with attention or hyperactivity
      5. Social skills
      6. Other, such as sensory problems, pragmatic language problems, memory deficits, etc.
  1. Maternal Alcohol Exposure
    - Confirmed prenatal alcohol exposure
    - Unknown prenatal alcohol exposure

 


Meharry Medical College
FASD Southeast Regional Training Center
Dept. of Family & Community Medicine
1005 D.B. Todd Jr. Blvd.
Nashville, TN 37208-3599

© 2009 Meharry Medical College, Department of Family and Community Medicine.