Toddler eyebrow/forehead abnormality?

[helpplease2020]

Posting here for traffic & name changed.

My child has unusual eyebrows and a hair whorl on the front of his forehead (like the sort you have on the back of your head).

I went to the GP when he was little and the GP dismissed my concerns as being new mother anxiety.

The only similar eyebrow pattern I could find online was children with trisomy 18:

www.jpeds.com/article/S0022-3476(12)00748-2/pdf

Maybe I shouldn't have mentioned this to the GP - I tried to explain that he obviously doesn't have any of the other severe indicators. He seems fine physically however now at 19 months he isn't really talking apart from the odd word here and there.

He vocalises a lot but sounds not words - he will say a word a few times but then it stops. A few weeks ago, he said mama to me a few times but it has stopped now.

I don't know if the two things are connected - maybe I am just an anxious mother but I am concerned.

I've attached a photo but it is difficult to see as the hair is light.

Has anyone else here ever had a child with a whorl on the front of their face?

Thank you.

Looks like a perfectly normal forehead to me.

I can see what you mean. Can you contact a genetic charity and ask their advice?

If you have concerns regarding speech and development then definitely go back to the GP. Can't comment on the eyebrow/hair thing but I do understand the concern about that, it would need a very specialist opinion.

Looks normal to me, my sons eyebrows are very similar. He didn’t start talking at all until 2.5 and now at 4 he talks fine

If that's not normal, I should take my kids to the drs.

It's never worried me or them before

Thank you everyone - it is difficult to see as the hair is quite light. I'll try to add a better photo.

@Haggisfish

Would you know which charity would be best?

Thank you.

That doesn't look so much like a whorl as the inner end of the eyebrow where they start growing in/down/together. It's not comparable to the whorls on the pdf which are all in the middle of the brow and much more unusual. If I didn't pluck the middle bits of my brows they'd not grow the same direction as the rest of the brow, they start curving the other way like your DS's. I wouldn't give it another thought but if the speech development is concerning you, then it's worth pursuing with HV/GP if only to put your mind at rest.

I can see what you mean in that latest photo, but to me it just looks like he has a bit of a monobrow going on. Is he a generally hairy child? And are you or DH hairy, or anyone else in either family?

His eyebrows look normal to me and one of my sons and 3 nephews have the whirl at the front, it's called a cow lick.

Isn't Trisomy 18 is Edwards Syndrome, which I don't know much about but think it is quite serious and has a very short life expectancy? I think you'd surely know by now. Unless they can have mosaic Edwards Syndrome where the condition is milder? How is his development other than his speech?

It’s the bit above between the eyebrows in the second picture. It’s a whorl.
I’m not sure if it’s a usual thing, though.

How about the speech, does that fall in normal boundaries? You might want to just start with that as a concern.

Here I’ve drawn a circle round it. I’m not the OP!

Are you or your OH hairy? He looks like he's developing a monobrow and maybe the whorl is just more obvious as he has dark hair?

I can see what you mean and yes, it is unusual - I've not seen a DC with that before. Can you speak to your health visitor?

I don't think the central whorl you are talking about is actually that similar to the trisomy pictures you linked to. In your second picture I think I can see what you are talking about; the eyebrows themselves are probably in the range of normal.

I suspect some abnormal hair growth patterns are common in infants and not that unusual in small children. However, it is reasonable to wonder about it especially if some aspects of his development could be a little behind.

If I were you I would suggest, at some point discuss his language development with the GP. Be open minded - ask him whether it is of concern / when to come back if he still isn't saying xxx by some particular age. (I recall learning 2 words together by age 2; my youngest only just made it or I'd have asked for review at that point).

One BIG caveat - if there are any other minor abnormalities or health problems that your child has / has had, then I would ask the GP whether a clinical genetics referral could be appropriate. I do not think that your child has a chromosomal problem, but there are plenty of genetic syndromes that might be spotted from a couple of physical anomalies combined with health problem X or Y. This would be in no way urgent, and the main utility would be predicting any other issues that should be looked for in the future.

At this stage a developmental review is going to be the most useful thing to set your mind at rest or decide to refer you and your child for support and/or early intervention. But no rush, some time in the next few months sounds fine. The fact that he is doing well physically is extremely reassuring.

Best wishes.

I say this gently but does he have epicanthal folds too? Is his overall development Inline with the norm? I have a child with a genetic issue so I am quite informed . Sorry but you did ask for advice .

Have you tried your health visitor? They seem to get bad press on here but mine has been amazing - very knowledgable and has given some really good advice over the years. In my experience, they are good at spotting “normal” and “not normal” and could advise whether they think you should be pushing it with the GP. For what it’s worth, his speech sounds fine to me. My DD didn’t have more than a few words until 20/21 months and then she gradually got going. She’s 2.5 now and doesn’t shut up!

@user68634

Isn't Trisomy 18 is Edwards Syndrome, which I don't know much about but think it is quite serious and has a very short life expectancy? I think you'd surely know by now. Unless they can have mosaic Edwards Syndrome where the condition is milder? How is his development other than his speech?

Yes.

I can’t see how Edwards wouldn’t have been picked up. I don’t think you need to worry about it. It’s really serious, with a mix of cardiac and other issues that get picked up in utero.

It’s defo not Edwards syndrome
You would definitely know by now.

My daughter didn´t really speak until 24 months, she is 27 months and is coming on really fast now! It was like at 24 months something clicked. Now you can´t shut her up.

My almost 4 year old has a faint whorl directly between his amazingly expressive eyebrows. Your son is fine. My son inherited his daddy’s weird hair genes.

My child also had marks on his eyebrows from the time he was born. It looks almost identical in the photo. I couldn't find a similar example. I ended up here after looking for it. This is a similar example that I have never seen before. I am not American. How are your child’s eyebrows now? Has it faded a little? I feel like it's getting darker. Please reply. I am using a translator, so please understand any awkward sentences.

I wasn't familiar with Edward's syndrome so I looked it up. It's a disorder that has a list of some pretty severe symptoms but what you're hanging your hat on here is something with his eyebrows and that he's not talking as well as you think you should be.