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Short philtrum

• Overview
• Treatment

Home Care:

• Call your health care professional.
• There is usually no home care needed for a short philtrum, however, if this is only one symptom of an underlying condition, follow your doctors instructions on how to care for the condition.

Call your health care provider if:

If you notice a short philtrum on your child, call your health care provider.

What to expect at your health care provider's office:

An infant with a short philtrum may have other symptoms and signs that, when taken together, define a specific syndrome or condition. Diagnosis of that condition is based on a family history, medical history, and thorough physical evaluation by an experienced geneticist.

Medical history questions documenting short philtrum in detail may include:

• Did you notice this when the child was born?
• Have any other family members had this facial feature?
• Have any other family members been diagnosed with a disorder associated with short philtrum?
• What other symptoms are also present?

Diagnostic tests:

Laboratory studies such as chromosome studies , enzyme assays, x-rays and metabolic studies on both mother and infant may be ordered to confirm the presence of a suspected disorder.

After seeing your health care provider:

If a diagnosis was made by your health care provider associated with a short philtrum, you may want to note that diagnosis in your personal medical record.

• Review Date: 3/13/2006
• Reviewed By: Lamya Alarif, Ph.D., H.C.L.D., Immunology and Genetics Associates, McLean, VA. Review provided by VeriMed Healthcare Network.

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