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BACKGROUND The extent of facial involvement in positional plagiocephaly is only little investigated so far. Investigation methods that take into account the challenging anatomical conditions and growth of infants' faces are desirable. In this study, the authors established a new three-dimensional photogrammetry quantification method evaluating pretherapeutic and posttherapeutic facial asymmetry in positional plagiocephaly. Furthermore, a facial asymmetry index was established and evaluated. METHODS Three-dimensional photographs of 100 children undergoing treatment with head orthoses were analyzed by constructing a standardized interindividual coordinate system. Defining landmarks, section planes, and point coordinates with a computer-aided design software, both sides of the faces were compared. Facial asymmetry was quantified by measuring differences between left and right sides and pretherapeutic and posttherapeutic changes in each patient. The facial asymmetry index was calculated by putting the absolute differences in relation with the coordinates of the nonaffected side. RESULTS Present results indicate that positional plagiocephaly results in a distinct facial asymmetry (range, -3.8 to 9.6 mm) in nearly all spatial directions and facial regions. Helmet therapy led to a significant reduction (p < 0.05) of intraindividual facial asymmetry (median change in facial asymmetry index, -1.9 to 3.1 percent). However, no correlation of the Cranial Vault Asymmetry Index and facial asymmetry (Spearman rank correlation coefficient, ρ = -0.09 to 0.47) has been seen. According to these results, severe occipital deformation does not necessarily provoke distinct facial asymmetry. CONCLUSIONS Present three-dimensional photogrammetry method allows the longitudinal quantification of facial involvement in positional plagiocephaly. Asymmetry has been determined in all facial regions. The facial asymmetry decreased through helmet therapy but was not eliminated completely.

Purpose: Develop and validate algorithms that can enable a novice user to quantitatively measure the head shape parameters associated with deformational plagiocephaly and brachycephaly (DPB) using 2D rendered images. Approach: First, the head contour is extracted semi-automatically using the intelligent scissors method. We then automatically compute two indices used in the clinical determination of the DPB from the head shape parameters: the cranial index (CI) and the cranial vault asymmetry index (CVAI). We also present methods to quantify and compensate for the user variability, including camera angle and distance from the head using 2D rendered images. We compared the results of our technology with ground-truth (GT) measurements from 53 infants with DPB and normal cranial parameters. Results: The Spearman correlation coefficient between the new 2D rendered method and the 3D GT was 0.94 (p

Background Positional plagiocephaly frequently affects healthy babies. It is hypothesized that manual therapy tailored to pediatrics is more effective in improving plagiocephalic cranial asymmetry than just repositioning and sensory and motor stimulation. Methods Thirty-four neurologically healthy subjects aged less than 28 weeks old with a difference of at least 5 mm between cranial diagonal diameters were randomly distributed into 2 groups. For 10 weeks, the pediatric integrative manual therapy (PIMT) group received manual therapy plus a caregiver education program, while the controls received the same education program exclusively. Cranial shape was evaluated using anthropometry; cranial index (CI) and cranial vault asymmetry index (CVAI) were calculated. Parental perception of change was assessed using a visual analogue scale (− 10 cm to + 10 cm). Results CVAI presented a greater decrease in PIMT group: 3.72 ± 1.40% compared with 0.34 ± 1.72% in the control group (p = 0.000). CI did not present significant differences between groups. Manual therapy led to a more positive parental perception of cranial changes (manual therapy: 6.66 ± 2.07 cm; control: 4.25 ± 2.31 cm; p = 0.004). Conclusion Manual therapy plus a caregiver education program improved CVAI and led to parental satisfaction more effectively than solely a caregiver education program. Trial registration Trial registration number: NCT03659032; registration date: September 1, 2018. Retrospectively registered.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the prevalence of neurodevelopmental delay among deformational plagiocephaly (DP) children, and to confirm relationship between neurodevelopmental delay and severity of DP. This study is retrospective study. Five hundred thirteen children who visited for abnormal head shape through outpatient department were recruited. To identify the children with neurodevelopmental delay among the 513 children with DP, Denver Development Screening Test (DDST) was performed in 38 children who suspected of neurodevelopmental delay. Cranial vault asymmetry (CVA) was measured by using caliper, and cranial vault asymmetry index (CVAI) was calculated. Thirty eight children with DP who conducted DDST were divided into 2 groups according to the degree of CVA; group 1 included 21 children with CVA under 10 mm, and group 2 included 17 children with CVA over 10 mm. There was a significant difference in number of neurodevelopmental delay between group 1 (n = 7) and group 2 (n = 14) (P

Objective: To compare cranial helmet therapy (CHT) and physiotherapy (PT) for the effective treatment of positional plagiocephaly in infants in terms of improving functional recovery. Methods: This was a prospective cohort study involving 48 infants between 5&ndash, 10 months of age with cranial deformities. The Cranial Vault Asymmetry Index (CVAI) and the Brunet&ndash, Lezine scale were calculated at the initiation of the study and after 40 treatment sessions. Results: The infants&rsquo, first assessment showed a delay in overall development areas with a global developmental quotient (DQ) (posture, coordination, sociability, and language) of 80.15. Although developmental improvements were observed in both groups in the Brunet&ndash, Lezine scale after treatment, the MANCOVA test showed no significant differences (F(5) = 0.82, p = 0.506, eta2 = 0.09). The CVAI reduced to 4.07% during the final evaluation in the cranial helmet group and 5.85% in the physiotherapy group without any significant differences between the two therapies (p = 0.70). Conclusions: No statistically significant differences were found between CHT and PT. After treatment, improvements from baseline measurements were observed in each of the readings of cranial deformity.

This retrospective chart review focuses on determining the most effective time to begin cranial remolding orthosis (CRO) treatment for infants with asymmetrical brachycephaly. Subjects with asymmetrical brachycephaly started CRO treatment between 3 and 18 months of age. These infants had a cranial vault asymmetry index (CVAI) &ge, 3.5 and a cranial index (CI) &ge, 90. Subjects were excluded if they had any comorbidities affecting growth, dropped out of treatment, were lost to follow-up, or were noncompliant. Factors which were found to statistically influence treatment outcomes were subject initial age, initial CVAI, and initial CI. Overall, younger subjects were more likely to achieve a corrected head shape. The presence of prematurity or torticollis had statistically nonsignificant effects on the success of treatment. Initial CI was found to be a stronger predictor than initial CVAI as to which subjects achieved correction. The less severe the starting CI, the more likely the subject was to achieve full correction. The clinical understanding is that it requires more cranial growth to &ldquo, round out&rdquo, a full posterior skull flattening than an asymmetry. Based on the study results, infants with asymmetrical brachycephaly should be treated as early as possible to increase chances of achieving full correction of the deformity.

Helmet therapy is an important nonsurgical approach for patients with nonsynostotic plagiocephaly, but its effectiveness may depend on certain anatomical features. We retrospectively examined the effects of helmet therapy according to the size of the anterior fontanelle. Two hundred patients with nonsynostotic plagiocephaly who underwent helmet therapy between 2016 and 2018 were included. Data regarding age at treatment onset and treatment duration were collected. Patients were divided into two groups depending on the age at treatment initiation: the 12&ndash, 23 weeks group and the &gt, 23 weeks group. Patients were also divided based on the anterior fontanelle size to analyze the effects of helmet therapy according to the severity of plagiocephaly in each group as the change in the cranial vault asymmetry index (CVAI). Therapeutic effects were evaluated using the cranial vault asymmetry (CVA), CVAI, anterior symmetry ratio, posterior symmetry ratio (PSR), and overall symmetry ratio at baseline and treatment completion. Treatment initiation at age 12&ndash, 23 weeks resulted in better effects than that after age 24 weeks. There were no sex-dependent differences in therapeutic effects. Greater changes in the CVA, CVAI, and PSR were associated with larger anterior fontanelles. Therefore, the anterior fontanelle size could be a prognostic factor for estimating helmet therapy outcomes.

Though positional posterior plagiocephaly (PPP) is considered common in infants since the pediatric recommendations of “Back to Sleep”, several aspects of its natural history still remain unclear. The aim of this study is to understand the actual prevalence and severity of PPP in children and adolescents. Head CT scans performed for head trauma during the period September 2016–September 2017 were retrospectively analyzed in a total of 165 children ranging from 0 to 18 years of age (101 boys). Cranial vault asymmetry index (CVAI) was calculated at the level of the superior orbital rim. CVAI values greater 3.5% was considered index of asymmetry. The results were analyzed according to different age groups: group I: 1 month to 1 year of age (37 children), group II: 2 to 4 years (32 children), group III: 5 to 8 years (36 children), group IV: 9 to 12 years (27 children), and group V: 13 to 18 years (33 children) and the severity of asymmetry according to CVAI values: mild group (CVAI range 3.5–7%), moderate group (CVAI range 7–12%), and severe group (CVAI > 12%). The total prevalence of PPP in the 165 children was 25%. While the prevalence in infants of group I was estimated to be 40.5%, it was 15.6% in group II, 30.5% in group III, 18.5% in group IV, and 12% in group V. The mean and maximum degrees of deformation were 3.5% and 15.1%, respectively. Most children had a mild asymmetry. One child (group II) presented a severe asymmetry. The degree of the asymmetry varied according to the groups but moderate asymmetry could be found at all ages even in groups IV and V. This study analyzing PPP in an unselected unbiased pediatric population shows that PPP has a high prevalence in adolescents. It confirms that the prevalence of deformational plagiocephaly is more common than usually reported and that PPP may persist at a late age.

Objective To investigate the clinical effectiveness of and parents’ perspectives on cranial-molding orthotic treatment. Methods Medical charts were reviewed for 82 infants treated for plagiocephaly with cranial-molding orthoses in our clinic from April 2012 to July 2016 retrospectively. Infants who were clinically diagnosed with positional plagiocephaly and had a Cranial Vault Asymmetry Index (CVAI) of more than 3.5% were included. Pre- and post-treatment CVAI was obtained by three-dimensional head-surface laser scan. Parents’ perceptions of good outcome (satisfaction) were evaluated with the Goal Attainment Scale (GAS). The GAS score assessed how much the parent felt that his or her initial goal for correcting the skull asymmetry was achieved after the treatment. Results The compliance with cranial-molding orthoses was 90.2% (74 of 82 infants). There were 53 infants (65% of the 82 infants) who had adverse events with the cranial-molding orthoses during the study. Heat rash was found in 29 cases (35.4%) and was the most common adverse event. The mean GAS T-score was 51.9±10.2. A GAS T-score of 0 or more was identified for 71.6% of parents. The GAS T-score was significantly related to the age (p

The severity of deformational plagiocephaly is frequently measured by cranial vault asymmetry (CVA). Cranial vault asymmetry is a simple linear proxy for the three-dimensional deformity. Different anthropometric landmarks have been suggested as the endpoints of the cross-cranial diagonals that determine CVA. One promising albeit counterintuitive set of digital landmarks is the frontozygomaticus and contralateral eurion. The validity of nondigital caliper measures associated with the diagonals defined by the frontozygomaticus and contralateral eurions has not been tested. In this study, the authors compare caliper measures against stereophotogrammetric measures that have been documented to correlate strongly with overall skull asymmetry.Cranial vault asymmetry was assessed by direct anthropometry with 2 different measures on 36 patients. Frontozygomaticus and contralateral eurion (fz-eu) and 30 degrees off the anteroposterior diameter (30offAP). Three-dimensional photographs were obtained and also used to quantify CVA in these subjects; digital measures of fz-eu and an overall measure of plagiocephaly (Global) were calculated. Global and 30offAP obtained at 31 patient visits in 2011 were also included.The measure best-correlated with overall Global asymmetry was digital fz-eu (R = 0.80). Caliper fz-eu was not strongly correlated with Global asymmetry (R = 0.27) or with digital fz-eu (R = 0.34). Differences between the digital and caliper fz-eu measures were 5 ± 4 mm (mean ± st. dev.). Differences between the caliper fz-eu and 30offAP measures were 6 ± 4 mm.Digital fz-eu shows an excellent correlation to Global asymmetry. However, attempts to replicate this result in the clinical setting by measuring fz-eu with calipers were unsuccessful.

Background Management of positional plagiocephaly by wearing a cranial molding helmet has become a matter of growing medical interest. Some research studies reported that starting helmet therapy early (age 5 to 6 months) is important and leads to a significantly better outcome in a shorter treatment time. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effectiveness of cranial remodeling treatment with wearing helmet for older infants (≥18 months). Methods We conducted a retrospective study of 27 infants with positional plagiocephaly without synostosis, who were started from 2008 to 2012. Every child underwent a computerized tomography (CT) before starting helmet therapy to exclude synostosis of the cranial sutures and had CT performed once again after satisfactory completion of therapy. Anthropometric measurements were taken on using spreading calipers in every child. The treatment effect was compared using cranial vault asymmetry (CVA) and the cranial vault asymmetry index (CVAI), which were obtained from diagonal measurements before and after therapy. Results The discrepancy of CVA and CVAI of all the patients significantly decreased after cranial molding helmet treatment in older infants (≥18 months) 7.6 mm from 15.6 mm to 8 mm and 4.51% from 9.42% to 4.91%. Six patients had confirmed successful outcome, and all subjects were good compliance patients. The treatment lasted an average of 16.4 months, was well tolerated, and had no complication. Additionally, the rate of the successful treatment (final CVA ≤5 mm) significantly decreased when the wearing time per was shorter. Conclusion This study showed that treatment by cranial remodeling orthosis was effective if the patient could wear the helmet longer and treatment duration was somewhat longer than in younger patients, well tolerated in older infants and had no morbidity. This therapeutic option is available and indicated in these older infants before other cranial remodeling surgery.

Plagiocephaly has recently received increased attention in pediatric neurosurgical circles and its treatment has been controversial. Lack of uniformity persists in the treatment of neonates with occipital plagiocephaly. Plagiocephaly resulting from synostosis is rare. Many patients with nonsynostotic plagiocephaly have been treated surgically. Cranial remodeling orthotic devices (such as headbands and helmets) have also been reported to correct nonsynostotic plagiocephaly. The cost of orthotic treatment has risen and its validity has been contested by many third-party insurance payers. The effectiveness of orthotic treatment has not been adequately compared to the natural history of nonsynostotic plagiocephaly. The first phase of a natural history study was initiated in June 1995 at Phoenix Children's Hospital. All new patients referred with a diagnosis of plagiocephaly were categorized into two groups: those with mild-to-moderate asymmetry and those with moderate-to-severe asymmetry. Categories were determined by cephalic measurements. The patients with moderate-to-severe asymmetry were offered orthotic treatment with a cranial remodeling band. Those patients with mild-to-moderate asymmetry were observed with repeated measurements. Data in patients left untreated and followed for natural history were compared to our data published in 1994 for those treated with external cranial orthosis. Our published data in 47 patients treated with a headband during the period from 1988 to 1993 indicated that cranial vault asymmetry improved from a mean of 8.9 mm to 4 mm over an average treatment period of 4.3 months beginning when the average age of the patient was 5.9 months. Seventy-two neonates treated with neck stretching exercises and repositioning of the head without surgery or orthotic devices showed improvement in cranial vault asymmetry from 10.6 mm to 5.5 mm over an average treatment period of 4.5 months beginning when the average age of the patient was 4.5 months. This study indicates that neonates with mild-to-m oderate asymmetry who are less than 6 months of age and who are treated with physiotherapy and repositioning have similar improvement in cranial vault asymmetry as those treated with orthotic devices. The second phase of our study deals with neonates who have moderate-to-severe plagiocephaly.

Objective To compare effectiveness on correcting cranial and ear asymmetry between helmet therapy and counter positioning for deformational plagiocephaly (DP). Methods Retrospective data of children diagnosed with DP who visited our clinic from November 2010 to October 2012 were reviewed. Subjects ≤10 months of age who showed ≥10 mm of diagonal difference were included for analysis. For DP treatment, information on both helmet therapy and counter positioning was given and either of the two was chosen by each family. Head circumference, cranial asymmetry measurements including diagonal difference, cranial vault asymmetry index, radial symmetry index, and ear shift were obtained by 3-dimensional head-surface laser scan at the time of initiation and termination of therapy. Results Twenty-seven subjects were included: 21 had helmet therapy and 6 underwent counter positioning. There was no significant difference of baseline characteristics, head circumferences and cranial asymmetry measurements at the initiation of therapy. The mean duration of therapy was 4.30±1.27 months in the helmet therapy group and 4.08±0.95 months in the counter positioning group (p=0.770). While cranial asymmetry measurements improved in both groups, significantly more improvement was observed with helmet therapy. There was no significant difference of the head circumference growth between the two groups at the end of therapy. Conclusion Helmet therapy resulted in more favorable outcomes in correcting cranial and ear asymmetry than counter positioning on moderate to severe DP without compromising head growth.