Diabetes mellitus and drug abuse during pregnancy and the risk for orofacial clefts and related abnormalities

OBJECTIVE: to assessed the prevalence of diabetes mellitus (DM) and drug abuse in mothers of children with orofacial clefts (OFC). METHODS: 325 women who had children (0-3y) with clefts were interviewed. Data regarding type of diabetes, use of legal/illegal drugs during pregnancy, waist girth and fasting blood sugar at the first prenatal consult were collected. RESULTS: twenty seven percent of the women had DM, out of these, 89% had gestational DM, 5,5% type 1 DM and 5,5% type 2 DM. The prevalence of DM in mothers of children with OFC was 27%, it is significantly higher than the average Brazilian population which is 7.6% (p<0.01) (OR=4.5, 95%CI=3.5-5.8). Regarding drug abuse during pregnancy, 32% of the mothers used drugs and a significant positive correlation was observed between drug abuse and the occurrence of clefts and other craniofacial anomalies (p=0.028) (OR=2.87; 95%CI=1.1-7.4). CONCLUSIONS: DM and drug abuse during pregnancy increases the risk for OFC and related anomalies and early diagnosis of DM and prevention of drug abuse, especially in pregnant women, should be emphasized.