Recognizing Ullrich-Turner syndrome by discriminant analysis of craniofacial structure

In the present paper, we propose an efficient strategy for identification of craniofacial anomalies in the Ullrich-Turner syndrome (UTS). Standardized portrait- and profile-photographs were taken of 21 UTS patients with X-monosomy and 21 normal females. Twenty-seven craniofacial parameters were read from the photographs. The data were analyzed by discriminant analysis, a multivariate statistical method. The result was a function represented by a linear combination of all those craniofacial parameters which best separate the two groups. The discriminant function was applied to 15 additional patients with UTS of various cytogenetic types. All 15 patients were classified correctly. The technique facilitates syndrome-recognition and is a contribution toward the study of karyotype-phenotype relations.