Rare diseases · Sign or symptom
High anterior hairline
High frontal hairline
HP:0009890
What it means
Distance between the hairline (trichion) and the glabella (the most prominent point on the frontal bone above the root of the nose), in the midline, more than two SD above the mean. Alternatively, an apparently increased distance between the hairline and the glabella.
This feature gives the appearance of a tall forehead, and may or may not include reduction of hair in the temporal areas. This can be distinguished from male pattern baldness as the hairline is the superior boundary of the muscular forehead, which can be actively wrinkled, in contrast to the scalp where no wrinkling can occur. In addition, texture of the skin of the scalp differs from the texture of the skin over the forehead.
Rare diseases that can present with this19
Sometimes5–29%
15- Brachymorphism-onychodysplasia-dysphalangism syndrome
- Deafness-enamel hypoplasia-nail defects syndrome
- Diastrophic dysplasia
- Helsmoortel-Van der Aa syndrome
- Nail-patella syndrome
- Palatal anomalies-widely spaced teeth-facial dysmorphism-developmental delay syndrome
- Pierpont syndrome
- PURA-related severe neonatal hypotonia-seizures-encephalopathy syndrome
and 7 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
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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.