Effect on the child of alcohol abuse during pregnancy. Retrospective and prospective studies. Acta Paediatr Scand, Suppl. 275: 112, 1979.-Retrospective and prospective investigations of children to alcoholic women gave an incidence of fetal alcohol lesion of one per 300 deliveries of whom half had the complete fetal alcohol syndrome. Perinatal and infant mortalities were increased seven to tenfold and low birth weight (~2 5 0 0 g), preterm deliveries (<37 weeks) and smallness for gestational age (<-2 S.D.) were increased eightfold, threefold and twelvefold, respectively. Small size at birth correlated with reduced mental performance later in life, 58% had IQ below 85 and 19% below 70. 8 % had cerebral palsy. The incidence of cerebral palsy associated with maternal inebriety was 1/5000 deliveries, i.e. every sixth case of cerebral palsy. Tracing of alcoholic women during pregnancy and treatment gave favourahle effect on intrauterine growth when sobriety could be induced early in pregnancy but could not protect from functional brain disturbance measured by neurological performance and by evoked response electroencephalography. Damage to the fetus by alcohol is now the largest known health hazard by a noxious agent that is preventable.

The incidence rate of FAAP is low and differs from that of official registries. The case fatality rate is low, but related to gender, age, and likely etiology of FAAP.

BackgroundA national surveillance program of colon cancer treatment was introduced in 2007. We examined prognostic factors for colon cancer operated in 2000 with an aim of improving survival in the new program and a special focus on the merit of lymph node yield.MethodsA cohort of 269 patients, 152 women (56.5%), with a mean age of 71 years, was operated for colon cancer in 2000 at three teaching hospitals and followed up for 7 years.ResultsOverall 5-year survival was 58.0%, and overall hospital mortality was 5.2%, with 4.5% in elective cases and 12.5% after urgent surgery. In only 41.1% of the specimens were 12 or more lymph nodes retrieved, but this did not affect survival in the combined cohort, although one of the hospitals achieved a significantly better result with a harvest of 12 or more lymph nodes. In a multivariate analysis, old age, gender, a high lymph node ratio (LNR) at stage III, and tumor–node–metastasis stage were adverse factors for survival.ConclusionsThe operative mortality was high and should be reassessed. The lymph node count did not have a significant impact on outcome overall, whereas the LNR proved significant for stage III. A prospective protocol using overall lymph node yield as a surrogate measure for more radical surgery, nevertheless, seems warranted to improve the lymph node harvest according to international recommendations.

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