Anthropometry in the Cri du Chat syndrome

Anthropometric and cranial X-ray measurements of 35 individuals with a 5p- karyotype showed a general growth retardation. Height, weight, circumference of the thorax, pelvic breadth, and the size of the skull, face, hands and feet were all subnormal. Only the inner canthal distance was moderately increased, especially in young individuals, but there was no true hypertelorism. The palate was not high-arched. Large and small terminal deletions produced much the same anthropometric features; and the proband's sex did not have a major influence. Age variations within parameters examined followed the developmental pattern of normal individuals. A certain phenotypical variation in the Cri du Chat syndrome may therefore be attributed to normal changes or to intrapersonal conditions.