Association between heroin consumption in pregnancy and structural abnormalities of the respiratory cilia in newborn infants
To describe structural abnormalities of the respiratory cilia in newborn infants whose mothers consumed heroin during pregnancy. The medical records of 295 newborn infants whose mothers consumed heroin either throughout or at some time during pregnancy and who were cared for in Hospital del Mar in Barcelona (Spain) between January 1982 and December 1997 were reviewed. Seven infants with neonatal respiratory distress after the withdrawal syndrome period were selected. Diagnoses were established by electron microscopy of nasal mucosa samples. All seven newborns with prolonged neonatal respiratory distress had ultrastructural abnormalities of the ciliary axoneme similar to those of primary ciliary dyskinesia or immotile cilia syndrome. The incidence of this alteration in this series was higher than that in the general population. These data suggest a possible association between ultrastructural abnormalities of the ciliary axoneme and prolonged neonatal respiratory distress in the infants of heroin-consuming mothers.