title: Craniofacial growth in shunt-treated hydrocephalics: a four-year roentgenocephalometric follow-up study.
abstract: The craniofacial growth of 24 shunt-treated hydrocephalics aged 5-15 years was evaluated over a 4-year period, by comparing changes in linear and angular cephalometric variables with those of an age- and sex-matched control group. The main findings were increased calvarial thickness, increased cranial base flexure, superior displacement of the sella, and a tendency for the gonial angle to remain more obtuse in the shunt-treated patients. As craniofacial growth in the latter differed only slightly from that observed in the controls, the deviations in facial morphology observed in a previous cross-sectional study of shunt-treated hydrocephalics can be taken to represent a long-term effect of the shunt treatment.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral Development, University of Oulu, Finland.
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Huggare
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kantomaa
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Rönning
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Serlo
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002508:Cephalometry; D002557:Cerebrospinal Fluid Shunts; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005147:Facial Bones / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D006849:Hydrocephalus / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000601:surgery*; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008445:Maxillofacial Development / Q000502:physiology*; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D011859:Radiography; D012886:Skull / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging