Abstract:
Background
Anterior fontanelle is the largest, prominent and most important fontanelle, which is used for
clinical evaluation. It is mainly characterized by its size and shape variation and is possibly
influenced by gender, race and genetics. Understanding the variation of anterior fontanelle
is used for recognition of different medical disorders and abnormal skeletal morphogenesis.
Objective
To determine the mean size of anterior fontanelle among term neonates on the first day of
life born at University of Gondar Hospital, Gondar Town, Northwest Ethiopia, 2018.
Methods
Descriptive cross sectional study design was undertaken in 384 term and apparently healthy
neonates, using standard methods. Descriptive analysis, student t-test, one way ANOVA
and Pearson correlation coefficient were implemented.
Results
In this study, the mean size of anterior fontanelle in term neonates was 3.00 ± 0.62 cm
(range 1.70–5.50 cm). The mean size of anterior fontanelle was 3.10 ± 0.66 cm for males,
and 2.88 ± 0.57 cm for females. There was statistically significant difference in anterior fontanelle size in neonates of different genders (p<0.001), mode of delivery (p<0.001) and
duration of labour (p = 0.006). However, the size of anterior fontanelle was not significantly
affected by the birth order, onset of labour and socio-demographic variables of the mother
except occupation of the mother (p = 0.01). There was a significant positive correlation
between the mean size of anterior fontanelle with birth weight (r = 0.11; p = 0.04) and head
circumference (r = 0.17; p = 0.001)
Conclusions
At term, male neonates had significantly larger anterior fontanelle than female neonates and
anterior fontanelle size has a direct relationship with birth weight and head circumference
