A group of National Institutes of Health-organized experts released updated guidelines for diagnosing Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD), clarifying guidelines written in 2005. Specifically, the new guidelines help clinicians distinguish among the four distinct subtypes of FASD.

The proposed guidelines include a new definition of documented prenatal alcohol exposure, guides to evaluating facial and physical deformities characteristic of FASD and updated information about the cognitive or behavioral impairments seen in children on the spectrum.

The four diagnostic categories of FASD include fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS), for the most profoundly affected children; partial fetal alcohol syndrome (PFAS), for children who displayed some but not all of the symptoms of FAS; alcohol-related neurodevelopmental disorder, for children who demonstrated cognitive or behavior impairment without physical characteristics; and alcohol-related birth defects, for children with a physical malformation without the neurodevelopmental characteristics.

Additionally, recurrent seizures or epilepsy has now been included as potential evidence of FAS or PFAS, based on evidence that epilepsy is often seen in children with FASD. The updated guidelines are available in the journal Pediatrics.