Abnormal measurements and disproportions in the face of Down's syndrome patients: preliminary report of an anthropometric study.

Using 32 measurements taken from the surface of the cranial-orbital-facial-aural area, 9 proportion indices were calculated to detect the most striking locations of disfigurement in 52 Down's syndrome patients (29 males and 23 females), all white North Americans, aged between 3 and 31 years. A shallow upper-third of the face depth (between the nasal root and the ear's tragi) and a short right auricle were the most frequent subnormal findings (each 71.5 percent), with subnormal palpebral fissures in third place (68.8 percent). The most striking supernormality was the inclination of the palpebral fissure, which was greater than the maximum normal in 46.9 percent. The most striking and frequent (46.9 percent) disproportion was caused by the presence of markedly short palpebral fissures in the vicinity of normal-wide spaces between the eyes (enen), followed by hyperteloric orbits (40.4 percent) and disproportionately short noses (28.9 percent). Major (moderate or marked) epicanthi were found in a high percentage (42 percent) of the patients and aggravated the visual impression of the already damaged orbito-nasal area. Preliminary results of the analysis of the proportion indices in various age groups showed that some disproportions in the orbits and face decreased with age.