title: Change in cranio-cervical angulation following orthognathic surgery.
abstract: Changes in natural head posture (NHP) were investigated in 33 patients (10 males, 23 females) with an age range of 16-40 years (median 21 years) following orthognathic surgery to change vertical face height. The reproducibility of the radiographer's technique of taking radiographs in NHP was investigated using a photographic method and found to be acceptable. The patients were divided into two groups: group 1, patients who had more than 3 mm of vertical change in anterior total face height (ATFH) and group 2, those who had less than 3 mm vertical change. For group 1 there was a significant relationship between ATFH change and cranio-cervical angulation (NSL/OPT) change (r = 0.532, P = 0.023), compared with group 2 (r = -0.247, P = 0.376). A similar relationship was revealed between lower anterior face height (LAFH)/ATFH ratio and NSL/OPT, where the correlation was also higher in group 1 (r = -0.635, P = 0.005) compared with group 2 (r = -0.182, P = 0.515). The correlation between cranio-vertical angulation (NSL/VER) and ATFH was not significant for group 1 (r = 0.406) or group 2 (r = 0.239) patients. Additionally, NSL/VER and LAFH/ATFH correlation for the two groups was not significant (r = -0.392 and -0.338, respectively). There appears to be a relationship between the reduction in vertical face height following orthognathic surgery and neck posture (as indicated by NSL/OPT). As no significant relationship was found between the reduction in face height and head posture (as indicated by NSL/VER) this suggests that neck posture, rather than head posture, had changed.
authors.affiliation: Orthodontic Department, Kingston Hospital, Galsworthy Road, Kingston, Surrey KT2 7QB, UK.
authors.forename: Deena
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Savjani
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Wertheim
authors.forename: Raymond
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Edler
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002508:Cephalometry / Q000379:methods; D002574:Cervical Vertebrae / Q000473:pathology; D005145:Face; D005147:Facial Bones / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008310:Malocclusion / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D010027:Osteotomy / Q000379:methods; D019340:Osteotomy, Le Fort; D010781:Photography; D011187:Posture; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012886:Skull / Q000473:pathology*; D014716:Vertical Dimension