Comparison of palpebral fissure obliquity in three different racial groups.
OBJECTIVE
To compare the obliquity of the palpebral fissures of three different racial populations.


METHODS
Prospective observational study. Frontal views of the palpebral fissures of three different groups of subjects (Brazilian whites, Brazilian Japanese, and Brazilian Indians from the Upper Rio Negro Basin of the Amazonas State) were acquired with a photographic camera and transferred to a Macintosh computer. Using the National Institutes of Health Image software (NIH Image), the angle formed by the inner and the outer canthi was measured for all images.


RESULTS
The mean fissure angle of the Japanese (9.39 degrees) was not statistically different from the mean angle of the Indians (9.64 degrees). On the other hand, both were significantly greater than the mean angle of the whites (4.60 degrees).


CONCLUSIONS
Marked fissure obliquity is found more frequently among Asians than among whites.
Hanada
A L
AL
Department of Ophthalmology, Otolaryngology, and Head and Neck, School of Medicine of Ribeirão Preto, University of São Paulo, Brazil.
de Souza
E N
EN
Moribe
I
I
Cruz
A A
AA
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D044466:Asian People; D001938:Brazil; D005143:Eyelids / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D007199:Indians, South American; D007564:Japan; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies; D044469:Racial Groups; D044465:White People