title: Natal cleft deeper in patients with pilonidal sinus: implications for choice of surgical procedure.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The study was planned to evaluate the depth of natal cleft in patients with pilonidal sinus disease and in healthy persons.
  
  
  METHODS
  The study included 50 patients with pilonidal sinus disease and 51 volunteers. Data including body mass index and natal cleft depth were recorded. Natal cleft depth was measured in millimeters by using a caliper instrument. Data were evaluated with the use of the statistical package program (SPSS) with a chi-squared test analysis. P < 0.01 was evaluated as significant.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There was no discernable difference in age, occupation, and sex between the groups. The mean natal cleft depth was 27.06 mm in the pilonidal sinus group and 21.07 in the nonpilonidal sinus group. The differences between the two groups were statistically significant (P < 0.01) for natal cleft depth. The mean body mass index was 25.71 in the pilonidal sinus group and 25.28 in the nonpilonidal sinus group. The difference between groups was statistically insignificant for body mass index.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The natal cleft of patients with pilonidal sinus disease is deeper than the natal cleft of members of the volunteer group.
authors.affiliation: Sema Hospital, General Surgery Department, Istanbul, Turkey. ofarukakinci@yahoo.com
authors.forename: Omer Faruk
authors.initials: OF
authors.lastname: Akinci
authors.forename: Mehmet
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kurt
authors.forename: Alpaslan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Terzi
authors.forename: Ibrahim
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Atak
authors.forename: Ismail Ege
authors.initials: IE
authors.lastname: Subasi
authors.forename: Oguz
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Akbilgic
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002081:Buttocks / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000601:surgery; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010864:Pilonidal Sinus / Q000601:surgery*