Measurement of the palpebral fissure and the vermilion border of the upper lip in newborns with gestational ages of 25 to 43 weeks.

OBJECTIVE To prepare percentile curves for measurements of palpebral fissure and the greatest width of the vermilion border of the upper lip in newborns at a public maternity ward in the City of São Paulo. METHODS A descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out from August 2006 to January 2008. In the first 24 to 72 hours of life, the palpebral fissure and the greatest width of the vermilion border of the upper lip were measured in 1,964 newborns with gestational ages from 25 to 43 weeks. Percentile curves corresponding to these measurements were prepared according to gestational age. RESULTS The average measurement of palpebral fissure was 1.98 cm, ranging from 0.80 to 3.00 cm, standard deviation ± 0.24 cm. The average measurement of the width of the vermilion border of the upper lip was 0.51 cm, ranging from 0.20 to 0.90 cm, standard deviation ± 0.11 cm. These measurements allowed designing the percentile curves (10th, 50th, and 90th) relative to gestational age. CONCLUSIONS Measurement curves of palpebral fissure and of the greatest width of the vermilion border of the upper lip may be useful to evaluate the presence of facial dimorphism in newborns.