Country‐based reference values and international comparisons of clitoral size in healthy Nigerian newborn infants

Abstract

The present results make it possible to evaluate clitoral size in Nigerian newborn baby girls in an objective way, to identify genital abnormalities and endocrine disorders. Based on this study, a clitoral length of more than 10 mm would be considered clitoromegaly in a newborn girl in Nigeria.

Clitoral size in term newborns in Kumasi, Ghana

“…More African data will be needed to clarify this. Our MCW of 4.21 ± 1.1 mm was similar to reports from Jarrett et al [19] and Yokoya et al [21] of 4.4 ± 0.89 mm and 4.4 ± 1.2 mm respectively. Oberfield et al [17] reported a relatively lower mean clitoral width (MCW) of 3.32 ± 0.78 mm in North American term newborns.…”

“…Our MCL was also similar to that of other studies that involved preterms, including the 3.66 ± 0.13 mm reported by Riley and Rosenbloom [13] in black term and preterm newborns in United States. Mondal et al [20] also reported a comparable albeit slightly lower MCL of 3.1 ± 1.54 mm in India and Jarrett et al [19] reported a relatively higher MCL of 7.7 ± 1.37 mm in 244 term and preterm newborns in Nigeria.…”

“…These patients were followed up and they remained healthy. Jarrett et al [19] also reported a clitoral width range of 1–7 mm, and so regional differences in clitoral size may exist. More African data will be needed to clarify this.…”

“…Some studies included preterms [13, 19, 20] whereas this study recruited only term newborns. Clitoral size has also been reported to correlate with anthropometric parameters of the study population [10].…”

“…Furthermore, differences in tools and techniques of measurement as well as inter observer variability may play a role. This study utilized calipers in the measurement of clitoral length and width while other studies utilized tumorimeters or rulers [19, 23]. MCL have also been reported to vary with ethnicity/race, which may also partly account for the differences in reported values [12, 13].…”