Anterior Fontanelle Size in Healthy Indian Late Preterm and Full Term Newborns

To measure the size of the anterior fontanelle (AF) in healthy late-preterm and term newborns and correlate it with birth weight, gestational age, gender, occipito-frontal circumference, small for gestational age status and birth weight z-score. This was an observational study carried out from October 2013 through April 2015 at a tertiary care hospital. Newborns ≥ 34 wk gestation were enrolled. Fontanelle edge was palpated with index finger and size calculated by adding anterior-posterior and transverse diameters and dividing by two. A total of 1010 neonates were enrolled. The mean AF size was 2.23 ± 0.52 cm (mean ± SD). There was a significant decrease in the size of the AF with advancing gestational maturity on one-way ANOVA (F = 31.30) (P