Rare diseases · Sign or symptom
Broad forehead
Increased width of the forehead
HP:0000337
What it means
Width of the forehead or distance between the frontotemporales is more than two standard deviations above the mean (objective); or apparently increased distance between the two sides of the forehead.
Frontotemporalis is a point lateral to the vertical component of the supraorbital ridge, where there is a hollowing. Spreading caliper tips are placed in the deepest part of that hollow. Note that this term should not be confused with prominent forehead.
Rare diseases that can present with this101
Very common80–99%
39- 3M syndrome
- 5q14.3microdeletion syndrome
- Acrofrontofacionasal dysostosis
- Acromegaly
- Aortic arch anomaly-facial dysmorphism-intellectual disability syndrome
- Apert syndrome
- Atkin-Flaitz syndrome
- Brachytelephalangy-dysmorphism-Kallmann syndrome
- Cerebrooculonasal syndrome
- Corpus callosum agenesis-macrocephaly-hypertelorism syndrome
- Craniosynostosis-hydrocephalus-Arnold-Chiari malformation type I-radioulnar synostosis syndrome
- Facial dysmorphism-macrocephaly-myopia-Dandy-Walker malformation syndrome
- Flat face-microstomia-ear anomaly syndrome
- Frontofacionasal dysplasia
- Fryns syndrome
- Gabriele-de Vries syndrome
- GAPO syndrome
- Intellectual disability-short stature-hypertelorism syndrome
- Keipert syndrome
- Koolen-De Vries syndrome
- Lenz-Majewski hyperostotic dysplasia
- Macrocephaly-spastic paraplegia-dysmorphism syndrome
- Macrosomia-microphthalmia-cleft palate syndrome
- Non-syndromic bicoronal craniosynostosis
- Osteosclerosis-developmental delay-craniosynostosis syndrome
- Otopalatodigital syndrome type 2
- Overgrowth-macrocephaly-facial dysmorphism syndrome
- Progeroid syndrome, Petty type
- Schinzel-Giedion syndrome
- Severe microbrachycephaly-intellectual disability-athetoid cerebral palsy syndrome
- Smith-Magenis syndrome
- Somatomammotropinoma
- Spinocerebellar ataxia-dysmorphism syndrome
- Tetralogy of Fallot
- Visceral neuropathy-brain anomalies-facial dysmorphism-developmental delay syndrome
- Weaver syndrome
- Wiedemann-Rautenstrauch syndrome
- Williams syndrome
- X-linked intellectual disability, Armfield type
Common30–79%
30- 10q22.3q23.3microduplication syndrome
- 14q11.2microdeletion syndrome
- 17p11.2microduplication syndrome
- 19p13.12microdeletion syndrome
- 2q23.1microdeletion syndrome
- 4q21microdeletion syndrome
- 7q11.23microduplication syndrome
- Aarskog-Scott syndrome
- Acrofacial dysostosis, Palagonia type
- Alpha-thalassemia-intellectual disability syndrome linked to chromosome 16
- Barth syndrome
- Cardiac anomalies-short stature-joint hypermobility-facial dysmorphism syndrome
- CDKL5-deficiency disorder
- Cerebellar ataxia-ectodermal dysplasia syndrome
- CHST3-related skeletal dysplasia
- Distal deletion 6p syndrome
- Donnai-Barrow syndrome
- Filippi syndrome
- Frank-Ter Haar syndrome
- Hennekam syndrome
- Hypertelorism-hypospadias-polysyndactyly syndrome
- Kleefstra syndrome
- MOMO syndrome
- Monosomy 13q34 syndrome
- Nasopalpebral lipoma-coloboma syndrome
- Pectus excavatum-macrocephaly-dysplastic nails syndrome
- Severe intellectual disability-poor language-strabismus-grimacing face-long fingers syndrome
- Thrombocytopenia-absent radius syndrome
- Trichohepatoenteric syndrome
- X-linked intellectual disability, Najm type
Sometimes5–29%
11- 15q11.2microdeletion syndrome
- 17q11microdeletion syndrome
- 3-phosphoserine phosphatase deficiency, infantile/juvenile form
- 6q16microdeletion syndrome
- Alpha-mannosidosis, infantile form
- Andersen-Tawil syndrome
- Autosomal dominant cutis laxa
- Autosomal recessive spondylocostal dysostosis
and 3 more in this range
The range is how often this sign appears among people diagnosed with each disease — it is not a probability of having any of them. Many of these signs also occur in common, non-rare conditions. A sign on this page is a conversation to have with a clinician, not a conclusion.
Part of the broader category
Also called: Bitemporal widening · Increased bitemporal dimension · Increased bitemporal width · Intertemporal widening · Wide forehead
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Start free with EleplanThis page uses the Human Phenotype Ontology (2026-06-23) — Human Phenotype Ontology Consortium, hpo.jax.org. Disease associations from Orphanet (INSERM), CC BY 4.0. Content is educational and is not medical advice.