Experimental Analysis of Skull Remodeling and Change in Intracranial Volume with a soft Orthosis in Canine Models

PURPOSE: Habitual sleeping positions in infants can produce occipital plagiocephaly that results in strabismus and skull and facial asymmetry. It can be managed with a hard orthosis, but maintaining an infant in a hard orthosis is often intolerable. We attempted to reform the shape of the young canine skull with a soft orthosis that is lighter in weight and less constricting than the conventional hard orthosis. MATERIALS & METHODS: We applied a series of soft cap-like orthoses to beagle puppies in increasingly longer anteroposterior lengths and but in comparatively short widths over seven weeks, increasing the orthosis length significantly each week. We tracked the head size of 14 beagles with an orthosis and 7 beagles without an orthosis, recording the maximum cranial width, length, head circumference and auricular head height. From these measurements, the intracranial volume of each beagle was estimated. All beagles were studied radiologically by plain skull x-ray, CT scan, and MRI. Functional activities were also examined. RESULTS: All 14 beagles with a soft orthosis showed very fast adaptation of the head to the orthosis just 2 weeks into the experiment, and they continued to develop a long and narrow head shape throughout the 7-week experimental period. At 7 weeks, they showed significantly shorter width and longer head appearance than the 7 control beagles (p<0.05), without any significant difference in the calculated intracranial volumes (p>0.05). There was no basic structural anatomical difference evident from CT and MRI findings, nor was there any functional disability in the orthosis group as compared with controls. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that the growing skull can be successfully remodeled using only a soft orthosis, without growth limitation and without functional or basic structural anatomical changes.

Author dc:creator

• 심, 숙영

Contributors dc:contributor

• 윤, 수한
• 대학원 의학과
• 103246

• 자세성 사두중
• 두개골보조기
• 두개골 변형
• 두개강 용적
• Positional plagiocephaly
• Skull orthosis
• Skull remodeling
• Intracranial volume

Language dc:language

ko

Identifier

http://dcoll.ajou.ac.kr:9080/dcollection/jsp/common/DcLoOrgPer.jsp?sItemId=000000000109
000000000109

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:repository.ajou.ac.kr:201003/1479