Cranial Growth Unrestricted during Treatment of Deformational Plagiocephaly

Abstract

Objectives: The Dynamic Orthotic Cranioplasty (DOC) Band^TM is a cranial orthosis used to treat deformational plagiocephaly. The ability of this device to redirect growth and thus, improve craniofacial asymmetry has raised concerns regarding the potential restriction of cranial growth. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the growth of the head during correction of plagiocephaly. Methods: The study sample consisted of 190 children: 81 females (42.6%) and 109 males (57.4%) All patients had been diagnosed with nonsynostotic plagiocephaly, did not have other significant medical conditions, were compliant with DOC protocol, and had complete anthropometric measurements at entrance and exit from treatment. Growth of the head was evaluated using head circumference, maximum cranial width and maximum cranial length. Correction of plagiocephaly was evaluated by documenting the reduction of craniofacial asymmetry of the cranial vault, skull base and face. Paired t tests were used to assess the significance of changes in these anthropometric measurements. Differences were considered significant if p < 0.05. Results: Average entrance age was 6.5 months with a mean treatment time of 4.1 months. Statistical analysis demonstrated highly significant reductions in asymmetry in all three regions (p < 0.001). More importantly, these corrections were achieved with synchronous growth of the skull as demonstrated by highly significant increases (p < 0.001) in head circumference, maximum cranial width and maximum cranial length. Conclusions: These findings document statistically significant increases in cranial growth in association with concomitant reductions of the cranial asymmetries associated with deformational plagiocephaly.