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Abstract
Objectives: The aim of this study was to describe a number of anatomical reference points which can be used to measure mandibular morphology and assess the degree of mandibular symmetry in a group of normal cats. Comparisons were then made between cats to evaluate correlations between morphological measurements and degree of inter-cat variation. This will provide data valuable evaluating and developing techniques for caudal mandibular fracture repair.Methods: Twenty-seven mixed breed cats (26 Domestic Shorthaired and 1 Domestic Longhaired) with no history of head trauma, intact undamaged mandibles, both mandibular fourth premolars and first molars present which had a full skull CT scan were included in this study. Anatomical reference points were defined on maximum intensity projections of multiplanar reconstruction of the mandibles and measurements taken. The ratios between paired right and left measurements, and the ratio of jaw widths at the coronoid process and mandibular foramen were calculated. All analyses were performed using R version 3.3.3 and the multcomp library.Results: None of the right:left ratios were detected as being significantly different from 1 and the coefficient of variation values were all very small showing that when cats deviate from the mean ratio they do so by only a small amount. Measurements analyzed to determine how consistent individual measurements were between cats showed that the most consistent measurement was the lateral ramus inclination angle. The least consistent measurements were ramus height and jaw width at the mental foramen. The correlation between pairs of measurements of the right and left ramus was analyzed and demonstrated a strong correlation between the height, width and length of the ramus.Conclusions: This study has demonstrated a low level of asymmetry between contralateral mandibles in cats, a high level of consistency in the dimensions of mandibles between cats and a strong correlation between the height, width and length of the ramus.
Highlights
Facial asymmetry is a significant and well-studied condition in humans with a variety of congenital and traumatic causes
Twentyeight cats with no history of head trauma, intact undamaged mandibles, both mandibular fourth premolars and first molars present which had a full skull Computed tomography (CT) scan were included in this study
The 95% confidence interval is within 1% of the actual mean for all ratios apart from the ramus width ratio (1.4%)
Summary
Facial asymmetry is a significant and well-studied condition in humans with a variety of congenital and traumatic causes. Reports of congenital facial asymmetry in cats are rare [18, 19], most cases of asymmetry being the result of jaw fracture [20] secondary to head trauma. Caudal mandibular fractures are most commonly repaired using inter-arcade fixation or stabilization techniques [21]. These techniques don’t rely on anatomical fracture reduction and are associated with a variety of common complications. CT has been shown to be an accurate technique for measuring skull morphology [6]
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