Auricular anthropometry of Hong Kong Chinese babies.
OBJECTIVE
To provide a database of the auricular measurements of Chinese infants born in Hong Kong.


METHODS
Prospective cross-sectional study.


METHODS
A total of 2384 healthy singleton, born consecutively at the Prince of Wales Hospital and the Union Hospital from October 1998 to September 2000, were included in the study. The range of gestation was 33-42 weeks.


RESULTS
Measurements included ear width (EW), ear length (EL) and ear position (EP). The data show generally higher values for males in the parameters measured. When compared with previously published data for Caucasian and Jordanian term babies, Chinese babies have shorter EL. The ears were within normal position in nearly all our infants.


CONCLUSIONS
The human ear appears to grow in a remarkably constant fashion. This study establishes the first set of gestational age-specific standard of the ear parameters for Chinese new-borns, potentially enabling early syndromal diagnosis. There are significant inter-racial differences in these ear parameters.
Department of Paediatrics, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China. taifaifok@cuhk.edu.hk
T F
TF
Fok
K L
KL
Hon
H K
HK
So
P C
PC
Ng
E
E
Wong
A K Y
AK
Lee
A
A
Chang
D044466:Asian People; D002508:Cephalometry; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004431:Ear, External / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D005260:Female; D006723:Hong Kong; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012016:Reference Values