Key Findings from Recent Birth Defects and Pediatric Genetics Branch Projects

Association between Maternal Smoking and Craniosynostosis

CDC scientists studied craniosynostosis, a disorder in which 
the sutures of the skull fuse prematurely resulting in an abnormally shaped skull, among infants born in Metropolitan Atlanta during 1968-1980. 

• Craniosynostosis affects approximately 5 infants per 
  10,000 live-born infants. Craniosynostosis affects approximately twice as many male infants as female infants. 

• Two recent studies suggested an increased risk for 
  craniosynostosis among infants whose mothers smoked during pregnancy. In our study, mothers who smoked cigarettes at all 
  during pregnancy were about twice as likely to have an infant with craniosynostosis as mothers who did not smoke during pregnancy. 

• Infants exposed to moderate maternal smoking (5-14 
  cigarettes per day) were about 4 times as likely to have 
  craniosynostosis as infants not exposed to any maternal smoking.  There were too few infants exposed to heavy maternal smoking (15 cigarettes or more per day) to adequately assess the risk associated with heavy smoking. 

Results are published in: Teratology 2000;62:145-146.