Abstract P39. Nasal Root Deviation in Unicoronal Craniosynostosis: A Craniometric Analysis of Early and Late Postoperative Outcomes

Abstract

Purpose: Current operative techniques for correcting unicoronal synostosis (UCS) leave the nasal bones untouched, resulting in an unclear long-term impact on nasal root deviation. The purpose of this study is to quantify nasal root deviation in the pre-operative and late post-operative setting in patients who have undergone conventional single-staged UCS correction. Methods: We performed a retrospective, craniometric analysis of nasal root deviation comparing preoperative CT scans, with those of the early, and late postoperative period. Three vectors were analyzed to measure nasal root deviation, one extending from the nasion to the rhinion (nasal bone vector), the second from the rhinion to the ANS (nasal aperture vector), and the third from the nasion to the ANS (nasal longitudinal vector). Results: Twenty-five subjects were included in the study. Average ages at the time of preoperative, early, and late postoperative imaging were 0.6 ± 0.3 years, 0.9 ± 0.6 years, & 9.3 ± 2.7 years respectively. Improvement of angular deviation of both the nasal aperture vector and nasal longitudinal vector, was observed. Mean angular deviation of the nasal aperture vector was 6.0 ± 1.9 degrees preoperatively, 6.0 ± 2.1 degrees early postoperatively (p=0.952), and 2.4 ± 2.1 in the late postoperative period (p=0.013). Mean angular deviation of the nasal longitudinal vector was 5.7+2.0 degrees preoperatively, 5.8 ± 2.3 degrees early postoperatively (p=0.948), and 3.7 ± 1.6 degrees in the late postoperative period (p=0.019). Conclusion: Nasal root deviation decreased significantly only in the late postoperative period, lending credence to the notion that though UCS correction does not directly address nasal root deviation, this pathology improves significantly over time.