Detection of ocular hypertelorism among Indian children

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVES: Ocular hypertelorism constitutes an important component of many clinical syndromes. It is typically recommended to use inter-pupillary distance (IPD) for objective evaluation of ocular hypo/hypertelorism. Barring infancy, there is a scarcity of data on this anthropometric parameter relating to the ocular apparatus. This study aims to study auxological dynamics of IPD in children of Indian origin. METHODS: A total of 3622 ( 2239 males and, 1383 females) normal, healthy Indian children of North-western origin, aged one month to 14 yr comprised the sample for this study. Inner and outer-canthal distance were measured using standardized anthropometric techniques. None of the children who participated in this study had craniofacial dysmorphism or any body deformity. Mean (standard deviation SD) and percentiles were calculated for IPD in male and female subjects at different age levels. RESULTS: IPD increased from 4.68±0.21 to 6.19±0.36 cm in males and from 4.59±0.26 to 6.08±0.25 cm in females between one month and 14 yr of age. Boys in general, possessed larger IPD than girls, however, the gender differences became significant (P≤0.05) at 10, 11, 16-18 and 22-24 months, respectively, and five and 10 yr of age, respectively. INTERPRETATION & CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study suggest that the patients having IPD less than the 3(rd) percentile should be treated as cases of hypotelorism while, those exceeding 97(th) percentile as cases of hypertelorism. The use of percentile grids presented for IPD may be used to detect ocular hypotelorism and hypertelorism in male and female children to corroborate diagnosis of different syndromes.