Defining dysmorphic facial features in congenital Zika syndrome

Abstract

Congenital Zika syndrome (CZS) constitutes a recently identified malformation caused by Zika virus infection during pregnancy. Limited data is available to date on the facial dysmorphic features of these patients. This study evaluated the facial dysmorphisms of children with CZS, compared with clinically healthy children, using clinical examination and standardized photographic images. Sixty-three children with CZS (9.70 ± 3.2 months-age), and 31 Controls (8.67 ± 6.2 months-age) joined the study. Seven out of 15 indices differed between groups: midfacial height (MFH)/horizontal facial reference (HFR) (p = .0003), interalar distance/HFR (p = .0027), nasal root depth/MFH (p = .0030), posterior nasal length/MFH (p = .0002), vertical position of the ear/MFH (p <.0001), ear length/MFH (p = .0005), chin height/total facial height (CH/TFH) (p <.0001). A CH/TFH of 0.229 showed 93.9% sensitivity and 80.6% specificity in diagnosing CZS. Children with CZS had broad, short faces, decreased intercanthal distance, short posterior nasal length, prominent nasal root, broad nasal wings, and high-set and long ears. Increased chin height index provided the most accurate diagnostic potential.

Advances in congenital Zika syndrome and its pathogenesis

“…2007~2014年间, 太平洋雅浦岛和法属波利尼西亚等地 接连暴发寨卡疫情, 导致近4万人感染 [1] . 2015年, ZIKV Fonteles等人 [3] 开展的研究描述了CZS中畸形病例的面 部特征: 患儿脸宽且短、齿间距离缩短、鼻根突出、 鼻翅宽、耳高而长, 并建议将下巴高度指数作为最准 确的诊断指标.…”