title: Bilateral asymmetry in Chinese families with cleft lip with or without cleft palate.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine if Chinese individuals with nonsyndromic cleft lip with or without cleft palate (CL/P) display more bilateral asymmetry than do their unaffected relatives.
  
  
  METHODS
  A case-control study of 313 individuals with CL/P from Shanghai, China, with 201 unaffected relatives as controls.
  
  
  METHODS
  Size-adjusted asymmetry scores were defined by data on middle-finger length, palm length, palpebral fissure width, and ear length. Case-control comparisons used a multivariate repeated measures analysis of variance, paired t tests, and the Wilcoxon signed rank test.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The ear-length measure showed a significant increase in fluctuating asymmetry (FA) in individuals with CL/P compared with their unaffected relatives, which was most pronounced in the female cleft lip and palate subgroup (p = .04). No other measures showed any increase in FA.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Evidence was found for increased FA, as measured by overall ear length, in Chinese individuals with nonsyndromic CL/P, compared with their unaffected family members. The use of bilateral measurements other than dermatoglyphics may prove to be a valuable means of assessing overall developmental stability in individuals with developmental malformations and in their families.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery and Division of Oral Biology, School of Dental Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15219, USA. neiswank@sdmgenetics.pitt.edu
authors.forename: Katherine
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Neiswanger
authors.forename: Margaret E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Cooper
authors.forename: You-E
authors.initials: YE
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Dan-Ning
authors.initials: DN
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Melnick
authors.forename: Seth M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Weinberg
authors.forename: Mary L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Marazita
mesh_terms: D000704:Analysis of Variance; D044466:Asian People; D001837:Body Weights and Measures; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002681:China; D002971:Cleft Lip / Q000150:complications*; D002972:Cleft Palate / Q000150:complications*; D004431:Ear, External / Q000002:abnormalities*; D005143:Eyelids / Q000002:abnormalities; D005260:Female; D005385:Fingers / Q000002:abnormalities; D006228:Hand Deformities, Congenital / Q000150:complications; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric