Unilateral cleft lip and palate patients present cranial base modifications: a cross-sectional study

Area of Science:

• Craniofacial anatomy
• 3D imaging
• Orthodontics

Background:

• Unilateral cleft lip and palate (UCLP) affects facial development.
• Previous studies suggest cranial base morphology is altered in UCLP patients.
• A precise 3D assessment is needed to understand these alterations.

Purpose of the Study:

• To conduct a three-dimensional (3D) assessment of the cranial base in UCLP patients.
• To compare cranial base dimensions and flexure between UCLP patients and a control group.
• To investigate the influence of UCLP on cranial base morphology.

Main Methods:

• Cross-sectional study comparing 52 UCLP patients with 72 controls.
• Cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) scans analyzed using ITK-SNAP and 3D Slicer.
• Measurement of 3D Euclidean distances for anterior, posterior, and total cranial base lengths, cranial base width, and cranial base flexure.

Main Results:

• UCLP patients exhibited significantly shorter anterior (N-S), posterior (S-Ba), and total (N-Ba) cranial base lengths compared to controls (p < 0.001).
• Female UCLP patients showed a significantly smaller cranial base flexure (NSBa) than female controls (p = 0.020).
• No significant differences in cranial base width (Po-Po) were observed between UCLP patients and controls.

Conclusions:

• UCLP patients present distinct 3D cranial base morphological characteristics compared to non-cleft individuals.
• The observed cranial base differences suggest that factors other than the cleft and surgical interventions contribute to craniofacial alterations.
• These findings have implications for understanding the etiology of facial deformities in UCLP.