Minor physical anomalies (MPAs) are relatively minor (typically painless and, in themselves, harmless) congenital physical abnormalities consisting of features such as low-set ears, single transverse palmar crease,

telecanthus Telecanthus, or dystopia canthorum, refers to increased distance between the inner corners of the eyelids (medial canthi), while the inter-pupillary distance is normal. This is in contrast to hypertelorism, in which the distance between the whol ...

micrognathism Micrognathism is a condition where the jaw is undersized. It is also sometimes called mandibular hypoplasia. It is common in infants, but is usually self-corrected during growth, due to the jaws' increasing in size. It may be a cause of abnor ...

macrocephaly Macrocephaly is a condition in which circumference of the human head is abnormally large. It may be pathological or harmless, and can be a Heredity, familial genetic characteristic. People diagnosed with macrocephaly will receive further medical ...

hypotonia Hypotonia is a state of low muscle tone (the amount of tension or resistance to stretch in a muscle), often involving reduced muscle strength. Hypotonia is not a specific medical disorder, but it is a potential manifestation of many different dis ...

and furrowed tongue. While MPAs may have a genetic basis, they might also be caused by factors in the fetal environment: anoxia, bleeding, or

infection An infection is the invasion of tissue (biology), tissues by pathogens, their multiplication, and the reaction of host (biology), host tissues to the infectious agent and the toxins they produce. An infectious disease, also known as a transmis ...

. MPAs have been linked to disorders of

pregnancy Pregnancy is the time during which one or more offspring gestation, gestates inside a woman's uterus. A multiple birth, multiple pregnancy involves more than one offspring, such as with twins. Conception (biology), Conception usually occurs ...

and are thought by some to be a marker for insults to the fetal neural development towards the end of the first trimester. Thus, in the neurodevelopmental literature, they are seen as indirect indications of interferences with

brain development The brain is an organ that serves as the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals. It consists of nervous tissue and is typically located in the head ( cephalization), usually near organs for special sens ...

. MPAs have been studied in

autism Autism, also known as autism spectrum disorder (ASD), is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by differences or difficulties in social communication and interaction, a preference for predictability and routine, sensory processing d ...

, Down syndrome, and in

schizophrenia Schizophrenia () is a mental disorder characterized variously by hallucinations (typically, Auditory hallucination#Schizophrenia, hearing voices), delusions, thought disorder, disorganized thinking and behavior, and Reduced affect display, f ...

. A 2008

meta-analysis Meta-analysis is a method of synthesis of quantitative data from multiple independent studies addressing a common research question. An important part of this method involves computing a combined effect size across all of the studies. As such, th ...

found that MPAs are significantly increased in the autistic population. A 1998 study found that 60% of its schizophrenic sample and 38% of their siblings had 6 or more MPAs (especially in the

craniofacial Craniofacial surgery is a surgical subspecialty that deals with congenital and acquired deformities of the head, skull, face, neck, jaws and associated structures. Although craniofacial treatment often involves manipulation of bone, craniofacial ...

area), while only 5% of the control group showed that many. The most often cited MPA, high arched palate, is described in articles as a microform of a

cleft palate A cleft lip contains an opening in the upper lip that may extend into the nose. The opening may be on one side, both sides, or in the middle. A cleft palate occurs when the palate (the roof of the mouth) contains an opening into the nose. The ...

. Cleft palates are partly attributable to hypoxia. The vaulted palate caused by nasal obstruction and consequent mouth breathing, without the lateralising effect of the tongue, can produce hypoxia at night. Other MPAs are reported only sporadically. Capillary malformation is induced by RASA1 mutation and can be changed by hypoxia. A study in the ''American Journal of Psychiatry'' by Trixler et al.: found hemangiomas to be highly significant in schizophrenia. Exotropia is reported as having low correlation and high significance as well. It can be caused by perinatal hypoxia.R. Huo, S.K. Burden, C.S. Hoyt and W.V. Good; "Chronic cortical visual impairment in children: aetioloy, prognosis and associated neurological deficits"; The British Journal of Ophthalmology r J Ophthalmol 1999 Jun; Vol. 83 (6).

References

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See also

References

Further reading