An abnormal hand posture in which the hands are clenched to fists. All digits held completely flexed at the metacarpophalangeal and interphalangeal joints. In prenatal sonography of the fetal clenched hand, the index finger overlaps a clenched fist formed by the other digits. The proximal interphalangeal articulation of the index finger is flexed and ulnarly deviated, and the thumb is adducted.

A hole between the two bottom chambers (ventricles) of the heart. The defect is centered around the most superior aspect of the ventricular septum.

Non-continuity of the arch of aorta with an atretic point or absent segment.

A deficiency or slowing down of growth pre- and postnatally.

A condition in which the stomach contents leak backwards from the stomach into the esophagus through the lower esophageal sphincter.

Upper insertion of the ear to the scalp below an imaginary horizontal line drawn between the inner canthi of the eye and extending posteriorly to the ear.

A type of abnormal location of the ears in which the position of the ears is characterized by posterior rotation (the superior part of the ears is rotated towards the back of the head, and the inferior part of the ears towards the front).

Attachment of the lobe to the side of the face at the lowest point of the lobe without curving upward.

A seizure is an intermittent abnormality of nervous system physiology characterized by a transient occurrence of signs and/or symptoms due to abnormal excessive or synchronous neuronal activity in the brain.

Atrophy (wasting, decrease in size of cells or tissue) affecting the cerebrum.

Unlocalized atrophy of the brain with decreased total brain matter volume and increased ventricular size.

Underdevelopment of the corpus callosum.

A delay in the achievement of motor or mental milestones in the domains of development of a child, including motor skills, speech and language, cognitive skills, and social and emotional skills. This term should only be used to describe children younger than five years of age.

Underdevelopment of the vermis of cerebellum.

Delayed myelination in the central nervous system.

Partial or complete wasting (loss) of brain tissue that was once present.

Dandy-Walker malformation is defined by hypoplasia and upward rotation of the cerebellar vermis and cystic dilation of the fourth ventricle. Affected individuals often have motor deficits such as delayed motor development, hypotonia, and ataxia; about half have mental retardation and some have hydrocephalus. DWM is a heterogeneous disorder. The low empiric recurrence risk of approximately 1 to 2% for nonsyndromic DWM suggests that mendelian inheritance is unlikely (summary by Murray et al., 1985).

The distal interphalangeal joint and/or the proximal interphalangeal joint of the fingers cannot be extended to 180 degrees by either active or passive extension.

Increased convexity of the occiput (posterior part of the skull).

Muscular hypotonia (abnormally low muscle tone) affecting the musculature of the trunk.

Vertical bony ridge positioned in the midline of the forehead.

Enlargement of the anterior fontanelle with respect to age-dependent norms.

Head circumference below 2 standard deviations below the mean for age and gender.

Posterior positioning of the nasal root in relation to the overall facial profile for age.

Forward prominence of the entire forehead, due to protrusion of the frontal bone.

The presence of a high and narrow palate.

Increased thickness of the lower lip, leading to a prominent appearance of the lower lip. The height of the vermilion of the lower lip in the midline is more than 2 SD above the mean. Alternatively, an apparently increased height of the vermilion of the lower lip in the frontal view (subjective).

Width of the forehead or distance between the frontotemporales is more than two standard deviations below the mean (objective); or apparently narrow intertemporal region (subjective).

Anteriorly-facing nostrils viewed with the head in the Frankfurt horizontal and the eyes of the observer level with the eyes of the subject. This gives the appearance of an upturned nose (upturned nasal tip).

Increased breadth of the nasal bridge (and with it, the nasal root).

An abnormal configuration of the lower lip such that it is turned outward i.e., everted, with the Inner aspect of the lower lip vermilion (normally opposing the teeth) being visible in a frontal view.

A gap in the lip or lips.

The presence of excess amniotic fluid in the uterus during pregnancy.

Although hypertelorism means an excessive distance between any paired organs (e.g., the nipples), the use of the word has come to be confined to ocular hypertelorism. Hypertelorism occurs as an isolated feature and is also a feature of many syndromes, e.g., Opitz G syndrome (see 300000), Greig cephalopolysyndactyly (175700), and Noonan syndrome (163950) (summary by Cohen et al., 1995).

Microphthalmia is an eye abnormality that arises before birth. In this condition, one or both eyeballs are abnormally small. In some affected individuals, the eyeball may appear to be completely missing; however, even in these cases some remaining eye tissue is generally present. Such severe microphthalmia should be distinguished from another condition called anophthalmia, in which no eyeball forms at all. However, the terms anophthalmia and severe microphthalmia are often used interchangeably. Microphthalmia may or may not result in significant vision loss.\n\nPeople with microphthalmia may also have a condition called coloboma. Colobomas are missing pieces of tissue in structures that form the eye. They may appear as notches or gaps in the colored part of the eye called the iris; the retina, which is the specialized light-sensitive tissue that lines the back of the eye; the blood vessel layer under the retina called the choroid; or in the optic nerves, which carry information from the eyes to the brain. Colobomas may be present in one or both eyes and, depending on their size and location, can affect a person's vision.\n\nPeople with microphthalmia may also have other eye abnormalities, including clouding of the lens of the eye (cataract) and a narrowed opening of the eye (narrowed palpebral fissure). Additionally, affected individuals may have an abnormality called microcornea, in which the clear front covering of the eye (cornea) is small and abnormally curved.\n\nBetween one-third and one-half of affected individuals have microphthalmia as part of a syndrome that affects other organs and tissues in the body. These forms of the condition are described as syndromic. When microphthalmia occurs by itself, it is described as nonsyndromic or isolated.

Visual impairment (or vision impairment) is vision loss (of a person) to such a degree as to qualify as an additional support need through a significant limitation of visual capability resulting from either disease, trauma, or congenital or degenerative conditions that cannot be corrected by conventional means, such as refractive correction, medication, or surgery.