Rare diseases · Sign or symptom
Narrow forehead
Decreased width of the forehead
HP:0000341
What it means
Width of the forehead or distance between the frontotemporales is more than two standard deviations below the mean (objective); or apparently narrow intertemporal region (subjective).
A reduced distance between the temporal regions (temples) on each side of the head to one another. 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.
Rare diseases that can present with this46
Very common80–99%
5- Benign Samaritan congenital myopathy
- Intellectual disability-obesity-brain malformations-facial dysmorphism syndrome
- Intellectual disability-seizures-hypophosphatasia-ophthalmic-skeletal anomalies syndrome
- KAT6-related intellectual disability-craniofacial anomalies-cardiac defects syndrome
- Pitt-Hopkins syndrome
Common30–79%
16- 21q deletion syndrome
- 2p15p16.1microdeletion syndrome
- 6q16microdeletion syndrome
- Birk-Barel syndrome
- Cleft palate-congenital heart defect-intellectual disability syndrome due to 15q14 microdeletion
- Lathosterolosis
- Lissencephaly syndrome, Norman-Roberts type
- Neurodevelopmental delay-seizures-ophthalmic anomalies-osteopenia-cerebellar atrophy syndrome
- Non-syndromic metopic craniosynostosis
- Prader-Willi syndrome due to translocation
- Ring chromosome 2 syndrome
- RNF13-related severe early-onset epileptic encephalopathy
- Schinzel-Giedion syndrome
- Severe intellectual disability-corpus callosum agenesis-facial dysmorphism-cerebellar ataxia syndrome
- Severe neonatal hypotonia-seizures-encephalopathy syndrome due to 5q31.3 microdeletion
- Trigonocephaly-short stature-developmental delay syndrome
Sometimes5–29%
24- 11q22.2q22.3microdeletion syndrome
- 20q11.2microduplication syndrome
- 20q13.33microdeletion syndrome
- 3-phosphoserine phosphatase deficiency, infantile/juvenile form
- 8q24.3microdeletion syndrome
- CDKL5-deficiency disorder
- Cognitive impairment-coarse facies-heart defects-obesity-pulmonary involvement-short stature-skeletal dysplasia syndrome
- CTCF-related neurodevelopmental disorder
and 16 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 narrowing · Bitemporal narrowness · Bitemporal skull narrowing · Intertemporal narrowing · Narrow bitemporal diameter · Narrow bitemporal width · Temporal narrowness
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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.