Standard values of inter-inner canthal, inter-outer canthal, and inter-pupillary distances in normal Japanese infants and children]

PURPOSE AND MATERIALS: We studied inter-inner canthal distance(DIC), inter-outer canthal distance (DOC), and inter-pupillary distance (PD) in 1,006 normal Japanese infants and children to establish the normal ratio of DIC/PD and DOC/DIC for the diagnosis of congenital anomalies such as Waardenburg syndrome. RESULTS: DIC, DOC, and PD increased significantly from one month after birth to 12 years of age. DIC and DOC were stable but PD increased from 13 years of age to 15 years of age in junior high school. The DIC/PD and DOC/DIC averages were 0.61 and 2.73, respectively, one month after birth and 0.63 and 2.69 at three months after birth. On the other hand, DIC/PD and DOC/DIC were stable at 0.55-0.59 and 2.45 from 8 to 15 years of age. CONCLUSION: Since there have been no reports on standard values of DIC, DOC and PD in infants, we established the standard values in this study. These values are expected to be very useful in the diagnosis of neural crest cell migration anomalies, such as Waardenburg syndrome.