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[Associated morphological anomalies of the face and brain in infants]
Insights
Facial malformations in children are linked to brain abnormalities, indicating a shared developmental origin. The face serves as a crucial indicator for brain development, especially in neurocristopathies.
Area of Science:
- Developmental biology
- Neuroscience
- Medical genetics
Context:
- Analyzed 39 brain malformations in 300 children with facial abnormalities (1979-1986).
- Observed high incidence of holoprosencephaly with bilateral labiomaxillary cleft (25%) and brain stem abnormalities with maxillo-mandibular dysostosis (13%).
Purpose:
- To investigate the association between facial malformations and brain abnormalities.
- To confirm the common neural origin of facial and brain structures during embryonic development.
Summary:
- Facial and brain development share a common neural origin, with specific facial structures corresponding to brain regions (prosencephalon, brain stem).
- Neural crest cell involvement in facial and neural development explains observed malformation associations in neurocristopathies.
Impact:
- The face acts as a significant marker for assessing brain development.
- Findings support experimental studies on embryonic development and neural crest cell functions.
Abstract:
Thirty-nine malformations and morphological abnormalities of the brain are analysed among a group of 300 children presenting facial malformations or dysembryoplasias (13%) between 1979 and 1986. Holoprosencephaly was discovered associated with bilateral labiomaxillary cleft in 25% of cases and an abnormality of brain stem was observed in 13% of cases with maxillo-mandibular dysostosis. This high incidence, due to the bias of hospital recruitment, confirms the recent experimental studies on embryonic development demonstrating the common neural origin of the face and brain, between which there is a topographic correspondence. To the nasofronto-premaxillary structures corresponds the whole prosencephalon and to the maxillo-mandibular areas correspond the brain stem and its nerves. The demonstration of the neural crest's role in the morphogenesis of the facial mesenchyme, the meninges and the nerves further confirms these associations of malformations in phacomatoses or neurocristopathies. Thus, the face appears as a marker of the development of the brain.