Abstract
Positional plagiocephaly (PP) is a general term describing cranial distortion from pre- or postnatal forces on the infant head. Abnormal intrauterine forces, multiple births, primiparous mothers, obstetric interventions, prematurity, male sex, excessive time lying in the supine position, and mobility restrictions of the cervical spine have been considered as the main predisposing factors. The objective was to investigate the association between the severity of PP and the active cervical rotation and to analyze the influence of predisposing factors in babies with PP. An analytical cross-sectional study was performed on 74 babies with moderate PP. Clinical and demographic data, cranial vault asymmetry, and active cervical rotation range of motion (ROM) were measured. Associations were analyzed with generalized linear models. The mean age was 16.8 ± 5.0 weeks, and 56.8% were male. A restriction in the ROM of active cervical rotation, especially to the left side, was observed. Our models showed that cranial asymmetry was related with left active cervical rotation ROM (p = 0.034) and with being transported in a pushchair (p < 0.001). Conclusions: An increased severity of PP was related with being transported in a baby pushchair and with a reduced active cervical rotation ROM toward the most restricted side.
Highlights
Positional plagiocephaly (PP) is a pathology describing cranial distortion from preor postnatal forces on the infant head
Many cases of PP improve over time, but scientific evidence suggests that conservative management strategies can safely and effectively minimize the degree of cranial asymmetry [9,10,11,12]
The generalized linear models (GLMs) outcomes showed that the severity of PP was related to the left active cervical rotation range of motion (ROM) and with transport type independently of the active cervical rotation ROM
Summary
Positional plagiocephaly (PP) is a pathology describing cranial distortion from preor postnatal forces on the infant head. Prevalence data are reported with a wide range. The data reported in the literature vary from low (13–16%) [2,3,4] and medium, (20–30%) [5,6] to very high (61%) [7] percentages of prevalence in babies. The great variability in prevalence is due to the lack of homogeneity in the diagnostic criteria and the wide age range in which it is studied. Others studied the prevalence of plagiocephaly and/or brachycephaly between newborns and infants of two years, and they observed 16.0%, 19.7%, 9.2%, 6.8%, and 3.3% prevalence at 6 weeks and 4, 8, 12, and 24 months, respectively [4]. Many cases of PP improve over time, but scientific evidence suggests that conservative management strategies can safely and effectively minimize the degree of cranial asymmetry [9,10,11,12]
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