Association of craniofacial and cardiac defects in phenytion-treated mouse newborns

ABSTRACT

The fetal hydantoin syndrome is characterized by unusual fades, increased incidence of cleft lip and/or palate, hypoplasia of the distal phalanges and an increased incidence of cardiac defects. The purpose of this study was to identify phenytoin as a cardiac teratogen in A/Jax mice and to identify the primordial cardiac structures affected. We have found that phenytoin can be embryopathic when the embryo is exposed during critical stages of development. Our results also indicate that a high incidence [53%] of cardiac malformations coexist with facial clefts. It is hypothesized that cardiac septation and facial processes undergo "critical" stages in their development at the same time and are therefore concurrently affected by agents, either environmental or genetic, which interfere with their normal morphogenesis