A morphologic description of a dry skull with mandibulofacial dysostosis

The morphology of an East Indian, dry skull exhibiting the characteristics of mandibulofacial dysostosis (MFD) is described. The skull was small, but the shape of the calvarium was essentially normal. Extensive anomalies were registered in the sphenoid bone, the temporal bone, the zygomatic bone, the maxilla, and the mandible. A lateral cephalometric radiograph of the skull was compared with a mean value diagram of adult Danish males in order to illustrate the morphologic aberrations of the MFD skull. The etiology and pathogenesis of the syndrome are disucssed.