The absence of labial villi in newborn humans

Most of the modern textbooks of anatomy and histology in the German language state that the lips of newborn humans are provided with villi-like structures, which are supposed to help the newborn hold on to the breasts during nursing. Respective books in the English language do not endorse such a view. A detailed literature study revealed that the concept of labial villi rests on 19th century publications, which were based on investigations conducted on dead foetuses. The epithelium undergoes maceration in the amniotic fluid and the tall underlying connective tissue papillae appear to the investigator as villi-like structures. Therefore, the concept of labial villi in human newborns was based on postmortem artifacts. Detailed experimental studies carried out later have shown that living newborn humans do not possess any villi-like structures on the labial integument. Our own study including twenty-five 4.4+/-2.6 day-old Caucasian newborn infants further supports this view.