title: Do children with Wilson's disease have distinct craniofacial morphology? A cephalometric study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Patients with Wilson's disease (WD) develop osseous changes such as osteoporosis, spontaneous fractures, areas of sclerosis and demineralization of maxillary and mandibular bones, and neurologic symptoms including swallowing dysfunctions, which may affect dento-facial growth. However, dento-maxillo-facial structures of these patients have never been investigated. The present study aimed to discover if subjects with WD have different dentofacial structures.
  
  
  METHODS
  Lateral cephalometric films of 13 children (5 males and 8 females) with WD and of 15 normal subjects (6 males and 9 females) were evaluated. Mean ages of the patients and controls were 12.62 ± 3.09 years and 12.01 ± 1.38 years, respectively. Lateral cephalometric cranial films of all subjects were taken in the same cephalostat in a habitual and unstrained body posture. Thirteen linear and 11 angular parameters were measured to describe the craniofacial characteristics of the subjects.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Statistical analysis showed that there is no statistically significant difference between parameters of normal children and children with WD, with the exception of palatal plane inclination. The inclination of palatal plane was higher in children with WD than in normal subjects.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Children with WD and healthy children have approximately the same dento-maxillo-facial structures. However, increased palatal plane inclination may be a finding of WD.
authors.affiliation: Atatürk University, Faculty of Densitry, Department of Orthodontics, Erzurum, Turkey.
authors.forename: Nihat
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kılıç
authors.forename: M Akif
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Sümbüllü
authors.forename: Vildan
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Ertekin
authors.forename: Gülhan
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Catal
authors.forename: Binali
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Cakur
authors.forename: Hüsamettin
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Oktay
authors.forename: Mukadder Ayşe
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Selimoğlu
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000367:Age Factors; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002508:Cephalometry; D002648:Child; D003766:Dental Occlusion; D003817:Dentition; D005260:Female; D006527:Hepatolenticular Degeneration / Q000150:complications / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008445:Maxillofacial Development / Q000502:physiology; D012886:Skull / Q000254:growth & development / Q000473:pathology*
keywords: Cephalometry; Craniofacial features; Wilson's disease