Increased frequency of left-handedness in patients with unilateral coronal synostosis.
OBJECTIVE
Left-handedness reportedly has been more common in persons with neurological afflictions (e.g., stroke) and malformations (e.g., cleft lip with or without cleft palate) that demonstrate marked unilateral involvement. Coronal synostosis is also more frequently unilateral, affecting the right side more commonly than the left. We sought to compare left-handedness in patients with unilateral coronal synostosis versus healthy controls.


METHODS
All patients aged 3 years or older with nonsyndromic unilateral coronal synostosis and healthy controls recruited by pediatricians blinded to the study.


METHODS
Prospective data obtained for all participants included age, gender, and handedness. In patients with unilateral coronal synostosis, the side of synostosis and age at surgery were documented. Left-handedness in the study and control groups was compared using chi-square analysis. Left-handedness also was analyzed in the study group according to side of fusion.


RESULTS
Eighty-six patients with nonsyndromic unilateral coronal synostosis comprised the study group; there were 96 controls. The mean ages of the study (8.8 years) and control groups (9.8 years) were not statistically different (p > .05). There were more girls in the study group (67%) than in the control group (56%), but this difference was not statistically significant (p > .05). Left-handedness was documented in 30.2% of the study group and 11.4% of the control group (p < .005). Left-handedness was twice as common in patients with left versus right unilateral coronal synostosis (44.4% versus 20.4%; p < .05).


CONCLUSIONS
Left-handedness is nearly three times more common in patients with unilateral coronal synostosis than in controls and four times more likely in patients with left-sided fusion.
Oh
Albert K
AK
Department of Plastic Surgery, Hasbro Children's Hospital/Rhode Island Hospital, Brown Medical School, Providence, Rhode Island, USA.
Mulliken
John B
JB
LaBrie
Richard A
RA
Rogers
Gary F
GF
D000367:Age Factors; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003398:Craniosynostoses / Q000145:classification / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000601:surgery; D005260:Female; D005624:Frontal Bone / Q000002:abnormalities* / Q000473:pathology; D007839:Functional Laterality / Q000145:classification*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010294:Parietal Bone / Q000002:abnormalities* / Q000473:pathology; D011446:Prospective Studies