Facial Angle
The facial angle is the angle between the top of the palate or upper jaw and a line drawn on the front of the head or forehead. In the images below it is where the two dotted lines meet, almost at right angles to one another.
People with Downs syndrome often have a very characteristic face which is described as being flatter than the general population.
The facial angle if obtained is included in the formula for Downs risk by MUMS staff but there are some short comings with the technique. For this reason we do not routinely perform this measurement at this stage unless we are happy with the image quality and position of the baby.
We do not know the accuracy of this test in our hands at the present moment so this is still an area of audit and research for the practice.
The left image below show a normal facial angle and you can also see the nasal bone present.
The right image shows a larger angle (only a few degrees) but you can also see that the nasal bone is missing. This was a pregnancy affected with Downs syndrome.
