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Autism spectrum disorders: head circumference and body length at birth are both relative

Marine Grandgeorge1, Eric Lemonnier, Nelle Jallot

  • 1Centre de Ressources Autisme, CHRU de Brest, Hôpital de Bohars, Bohars, France. marine.grandgeorge@chu-brest.fr

Acta Paediatrica (Oslo, Norway : 1992)
|April 16, 2013
PubMed

Insights

Infants later diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) showed differences in head size relative to body length and weight at birth. An increased head circumference-to-body length ratio may indicate a risk factor for ASD.

Area of Science:

  • Neurodevelopmental disorders
  • Pediatric medicine
  • Genetics and developmental biology

Background:

  • Head circumference, body length, and weight are key infant growth indicators.
  • Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs) are complex neurodevelopmental conditions.
  • Limited research has explored early morphological disproportions in relation to ASD.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To compare head circumference, head circumference-to-height, and head circumference-to-weight ratios in neonates diagnosed with ASD versus controls.
  • To investigate potential early physical indicators associated with ASD development.

Main Methods:

  • Recruited 422 children with ASD and 153 typically developing children.
  • Collected and standardized head circumference, body length, and weight at birth as percentile scores by gestational age and gender.

Main Results:

  • Genuine macrocephaly was significantly higher in children with other pervasive developmental disorders compared to controls.
  • Relative macrocephaly and microcephaly were more frequent in children with autism disorder concerning body length.
  • No significant difference was found for genuine microcephaly between groups.

Conclusions:

  • Differences in relative head size to body dimensions suggest varied neurological mechanisms in ASD phenotypes.
  • An elevated head circumference-to-body length ratio in newborns may serve as a potential early marker for ASD.
  • Further research is warranted to explore the predictive value of these early morphological parameters.
Abstract

Keywords:
Autism spectrum disordersBody lengthHead circumferenceRelative macrocephalyRelative microcephaly

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