Primal Health Databank: Study
| Entry No: | 1006 |
| Title: | Severity of ASD symptoms and their correlation with the presence of copy number variations and exposure to first trimester ultrasound. |
| Author(s): | Webb S, Garrison MM, et al |
| Reference: | Autism Res. 2016 Sep 1. doi: 10.1002/aur.1690. [Epub ahead of print] |
| Place of Study: | USA |
| Abstract: | Early prenatal diagnostic ultrasound has been linked to variability in symptoms of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in children with specific genetic vulnerabilities.
These results "add weight to ongoing concerns" expressed by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) about the nonmedical use of diagnostic ultrasound during pregnancy.
In a retrospective study of a national sample of children with ASD, the researchers looked for a possible relationship between the severity of ASD symptoms and ultrasound exposure during the first trimester of pregnancy in offspring with a genetic predisposition to ASD.
The sample included 1749 children with ASD for whom genetic information on the presence or absence of copy number variants (CNVs) was available. CNVs represent a specific class of genetic defect that has been associated with ASD and other neurodevelopmental disorders.
For the group as a whole, exposure to first-trimester ultrasound, in comparison with no exposure, was related to lower observed social affective symptoms but greater parent-reported restrictive and repetitive behaviors, the authors report.
For the 133 children with ASD in whom CNVs had been identified, exposure to first-trimester ultrasound was related to statistically significantly lower nonverbal IQ in comparison with no exposure. There were also trends toward more impaired adaptive behaviors, as reflected in parent report, and trends toward increased observed repetitive behaviors.
For the 111 male children with ASD in whom CNVs had been identified, exposure to first-trimester ultrasound was related to statistically significantly lower nonverbal IQ and significantly increased observed repetitive behaviors, as well as trends in reduced verbal IQ and in more parent-reported repetitive symptoms. |
| Keyword(s): | autism, autistic spectrum disorder, ultrasound scans |
| Discussion: | No discussion mentioned for this entry |
| See Also: | No related entries mentioned for this entry |
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