Long-Term Outcomes of Regional Morphology in Spring-Assisted Surgery and Cranial Vault Remodeling

Spring-assisted surgery (SAS) and cranial vault remodeling (CVR) are widely used surgical techniques to correct sagittal craniosynostosis (SC). The authors evaluated changes in regional morphology of patients with SC who had undergone SAS or CVR, using the frontal bossing index (FBI), occipital bulleting index, vertex narrowing index (VNI), and scaphocephalic severity index (SCI) to capture differences in anterior protrusion, posterior protrusion, width restriction, and global dysmorphology, respectively.

Indices were measured on computed tomography and 3-dimensional photographs (n = 788) of 257 patients with SC from 2001 through 2022 who underwent SAS (n = 177) or CVR (n = 80). Short-term and long-term outcomes were evaluated.

Mean age at time of surgery was older in the CVR cohort (CVR, 22.55 ± 16.00 years; SAS, 4.56 ± 2.24 years) (P < 0.05). Before surgery, the SAS cohort had more severe regional dysmorphology in FBI, VNI, and SCI (P < 0.05) relative to the CVR cohort. Frontal bossing consistently improved over time in both cohorts. Head width improved as soon as 0 to 6 months postoperatively (P < 0.05), but it consistently regressed after the initial improvement in both cohorts. Global head shape initially improved in the CVR cohort but regressed over time. In contrast, patients in the SAS group maintained improvements in SCI over time, with significantly better percentage change in every age interval (P < 0.05).

The FBI, occipital bulleting index, VNI, and SCI are useful tools for monitoring head shape and growth. SAS and CVR achieve similar morphologic outcomes, despite more severe preoperative morphology in the SAS group. Trending index changes with growth between the 2 cohorts suggest improved longevity of correction in the SAS group.

Therapeutic, III.