Mental Retardation in Children of Phenylketonuric Mothers

Abstract

PREVIOUSLY, we reported 3 phenylketonuric mothers who had 1, 5 and 8 nonphenylketonuric children, all mentally retarded.¹ We postulated that the metabolic derangement of the mothers caused the mental defect in the children. Two mothers were greatly retarded, and the third was moderately so. Two of the fathers, though unavailable for study, had normal children through other marriages. Because 2 of these mothers were institutionalized and few phenylketonuric mothers have been detected, we were unable to assess fully the significance of our findings.Since our original report we have detected 3 additional phenylketonuric mothers who are functioning adequately in society; . . .