dysmorphism???

[Star97]

Hi all just seeing if anyone has heard of dysmorphism? I have just received a letter for my dd with this stated on the letter and I cant find anything about it on the internet? She has had genetic testing done previously and have come back clear so I don’t know what it could be

A dysmorphic feature or features just refers to a difference in appearance (can be very small) from the norm. So maybe ears that are lower set than usual, or a small chin.

Some features can point towards particular syndromes, but can also just be the way the person is made and not signal anything "wrong" at all.

I am far from any expert on words and their meanings, but I understand it to mean different. In my line of work I would use it to say that an animal is sexually dimorphic, meaning that males and females have different characteristic that's are different from each other. I'm the same way you may say certain species are dimorphic from their adult form in species like Caterpillars and Beatles.

So I would assume it means there is a possibly you child has a characteristic that is slightly different, so maybe eyes are different colours, or perhaps being smaller than you expect at a certain age.

I hope I'm making sense. I don't think it necessarily means anything bad or worrying, just doctors describe things that way sometimes. So one of my child's eyes are quite large, and another has a larger head circumference than corresponds with his body, although it's noticeable

In terms of genetic testing, it usually means that a child has certain markers.
"Adysmorphicfeature is an abnormal difference in body structure. It can be an isolated finding in an otherwise normal individual, or it can be related to a congenitaldisorder orgeneticsyndrome"
So my ds has "dysmorphic features" - which are a particular shaped mouth, short fingers, preauricular pits on his ears, hair between his brows, a wide forehead, a curved little finger etc.
None of these things on their own, particularly stand out, and could all be 'typical' features...but together they are significant, as all the children who have the same genetic condition as him have similar dysmorphic features.

Are there health, physical or developmental concerns about your dd?