The Examining FASD Diagnosis ECHO Recap

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Series Schedule:

March 15th, 2023:
Benefits and Barriers to FASD Diagnosis: People with Lived Experiences

April 19th, 2023:
Leveraging Technology for FASD Screening & Intervention: Telemedicine and Assistive Technologies

May 17th, 2023:
Benefits and Barriers to FASD Diagnosis: Systems, Policies, and Practices

June 21st, 2023:
FASD as a Mitigating Factor – the Case for Compassion

Session details:

“Washington and Alaska statewide FASD diagnostic clinical networks.”
by Dr. Susan J. (Astley) Hemingway, Ph.D.

AK and WA have hosted statewide interdisciplinary FASD diagnostic clinics for 20 and 30 years respectively using the FASD 4-Digit Diagnostic Code. The 4-Digit Code FASD
diagnostic outcomes and CDC PRAMS/BRFSS prenatal alcohol exposure histories are compared
between the two States over the
decades.

“Specificity vs. Sensitivity – Coming to a Consensus How to Diagnose FASD ”
by Dr. Michael E. Charness, M.D.

Dr. Michael E. Charness presented
and contrasted the three principal
diagnostic systems. Fetal alcohol
spectrum disorders (FASD) is a
diagnostic umbrella that encompasses
a range of effects of prenatal alcohol
exposure. There is broad agreement
on the diagnostic elements of FASD;
however, different diagnostic systems
define and combine these elements in
different ways, creating diagnostic
confusion.

Three diagnostic systems are in wide
use globally: The Collaboration on
FASD Prevalence (CoFASP), derived
from the Institute of Medicine criteria;
the 4-Digit Code; and the Canadian
diagnostic system. Since there is no
gold standard for diagnosing FASD,
each of these systems has advantages and disadvantages.