Determining the cause of optic nerve atrophy in syndromic craniosynostosis using logistic regression

The restricted intracranial volume in syndromic craniosynostosis is due to limited skull expansion caused by early fusion of multiple cranial sutures. This led to progressive increased in intracranial pressure which has long been established as the cause of optic nerve damage. Optic nerve damage secondary to the narrowing of optic canal in syndromic craniosynostosis has been reported but not comprehensively explored. The objective of this study is to predict using logistic regression the cause of optic nerve atrophy is caused by increased intracranial pressure or structural narrowing of optic canal. The study involved 11 measurements of features of the optic canals as predictor variables. A binary logistic regression and variable selection method were applied to the 11 measurements to choose the best combination of the predictors. The results show good models that could be considered a suitable representation of the data. The height at the optical cranial side is the most dominant feature in the top 20 models that specifies the syndromic patients, followed by the area and the perimeter for both optic canals, then the length of the medial wall and the diameter at the mid canal for right and left canal respectively. The paper's findings provide significant evidence for using this method as an alternative to determine if the cause of optic nerve atrophy is related to either increased intracranial pressure or narrowing optic canal structure among syndromic craniosynostosis patients, thus saving the patient from ineffective operations, additional risks, and waste of resources.