Different head morphology of full-term gypsy and non-gypsy newborns from Slovak Republic

Early detection of cranial growth defects in childhood is extremely important for subsequent growth, development of head and could be a screening aid for early detection of growth deviations. Seven head dimensions and two indexes of 90 Gypsy and 99 non-Gypsy newborns from Slovakia were examined to asses the potential differences between the groups. Gypsy newborns had significantly lower head circumference, lower head length, lower width of head basis and facial width compared to non-Gypsy newborns. Gypsy newborns have shown significantly higher value of the index cephalicus while in non-Gypsy newborns mesocephalic values have been detected. Moreover, Gypsy newborns had significantly higher cranium as compared to non-Gypsy. Gypsy subpopulation has a different head morphology compared to the majority of the population. Knowledge about the different head morphology between these ethnic groups could give us clues about the genetic influences determining head morphology in the prenatal development and therefore might be a helpful diagnostic tool in neonatology (Tab. 1, Ref. 14).