The rat like face syndrome are rare genetic or neurological conditions that alter a person's skull and facial development, which results in a small head and distinct facial features.
Rat like face syndrome is a colloquial term and there is not just single medical diagnosis or condition with the official name of rat like face syndrome.
But instead rat like face syndrome refers to specific conditions.
The term rat like face syndrome is most infamously associated with a tragic cultural as well as neurological phenomenon in Pakistan that is known as the "Rats of Shah Dola".
Children born with microcephaly, which is a condition where the head and the brain don't develop properly were historically abandoned at a specific shrine in Gujrat, Pakistan.
These abandoned children with microcephaly often develop a very small and sloped head with a round jaw.
And for centuries, the unfortunate association with the rat like appearance was also compounded further by horrific local myths of babies being deliberately deformed using metal caps to force the babies into a lifetime of begging.
Rat like face syndrome can also refer to Williams Syndrome.
When rat like face syndrome is used in a medical and genetic context, rat like face syndrome occasionally refers to Williams Syndrome.
Williams Syndrome is a rare neurodevelopmental genetic disorder.
People with Williams Syndrome often have specific "elfin" or "pixie like" facial characteristics, which some people also liken to a small and rat like appearance.
These small and rat like appearances include.
Having full cheeks and a small and underdeveloped chin.
A broad forehead and puffiness around the eyes.
A short and upturned nose.
And wide mouths with full lips and widely spaced, small teeth.
Despite the physical and cognitive challenges, people with Williams syndrome are also highly social, extremely empathetic and often possess highly developed verbal skills.
Rat like face syndrome is also associated with other very rare genetic conditions like Wiedmann rautenstrauch syndrome, (neonatal progeroid syndrome) or even Seckel syndrome (bird headed dwarfism), which can cause thin facial features, microcephaly or even a pinched nose which gives a rodent like profile.