Three-dimensional and cephalometric evaluations in children with craniofacial anomalies

Objectives: The aim of this study was to compare cephalometric evaluation with a new three dimensional evaluation technique in a children population with craniofacial anomalies. Methods: B3L-B3R, B6L-B6R, ImL-ImR, JL-JR, Nasal Width, ZA-AZ, ZL-MoL, ZR-MoR, ZL-ZR measurements for Frontal, ANS-Me, CondL-A, CondL-Gn, CondR-Gn, CondR-A, Max-Mand Left, Max-Mand Right, NBa- SNA, NBa-PtRGn, PtLGn, SpPoL-GoLMe, SpPoR-GoRMe measurements for Mc Namara and ANB, II, Mand1-NB, Max1-NA, Max1-SN, SN-GoLGn, SN-GoRGn, SNA, SND measurements for Steiner orthodontic analyses were performed on the lateral cephalometric radiographies and cranial computerized tomography data of nine boys and 6 girls with cleft lip and palate within 7-12 age range. The three dimensional reconstruction and orthodontic measurements were performed using MIMICS software (MIMICS 1.02, Materialise, Belgium). All the landmarks for orthodontic analyses were considered by a senior orthodontist. The data were evaluated with paired samples statistics and Wilcoxon signed ranks tests using a statistical software package (SPSS, 11.0, USA). Results: The evaluation of the data revealed that lateral cephalometric and 3D evaluations correlated well for Steiner analysis criteria (p>0.05), while only the ANSME and SNA datas were correlated for Mc Namara (p>0.05), and IML and JL data's were correlated for Frontal analysis (p>0.05). Conclusions: Although there are some previous studies reporting that cephalometric and three dimensional evaluations shows a considerably well correlation, the results of this study are not in accordance with these. This can be due to the fact that the subjects of this study is consisted of children with cranio-facial anomalies while all the norms in conventional cephalometric analyses are considered on normal subjects. Within the limitations of this study, it can be concluded that further studies are needed in order to more accurately determine the anatomical landmarks on the three dimensional reproduction and thus to establish new standards for three dimensional evaluations.