Sternum length and intermammillary distance in normal newborns.

Short sternum and widely spaced nipples are recognized clinical findings in Edwards' and Patau's syndromes and in Noonan's, Turner's and renal hypoplasia syndromes, respectively. Sternum length, intermammillary distance, length of trunk and thoracic circumference were measured in 307 consecutive live newborns. Intermammillary distance was found to have the highest partial regression coefficient over sternum length. It seems therefore advisable to consider both parameters in the phenotypic description of syndromes where an abnormal variation of one of them is suspected.