title: Elements of morphology: general terms for congenital anomalies.
abstract: An international group of clinicians working in the field of dysmorphology has established a process for the standardization of terms used to describe human morphology. The goals are to standardize these terms and develop consensus regarding their definitions. This project will increase the usefulness and precision of descriptions of the human phenotype and facilitate reliable comparisons of phenotypic findings among clinicians and researchers in medicine, developmental biology, and genetics. Here we define and illustrate the general terms that describe congenital anomalies as related to human conditions.
authors.affiliation: Departments of Pediatrics and Clinical Genetics, Academic Medical Center, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands.
authors.forename: Raoul C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Hennekam
authors.forename: Leslie G
authors.initials: LG
authors.lastname: Biesecker
authors.forename: Judith E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Allanson
authors.forename: Judith G
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Hall
authors.forename: John M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Opitz
authors.forename: I Karen
authors.initials: IK
authors.lastname: Temple
authors.forename: John C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Carey
mesh_terms: D000013:Congenital Abnormalities / Q000145:classification* / Q000175:diagnosis*; D006801:Humans; D010641:Phenotype; D009626:Terminology as Topic
keywords: anomaly; association; definitions; deformation; disruption; dysmorphology; dysplasia; genotype; malformation; morphology; nomenclature; phenotype; sequence; syndrome; variant