Sella turcica morphometrics in children with unilateral cleft lip and palate

• Published in: Orthodontics & craniofacial research Vol. 23; no. 4; pp. 398 - 403
• Main Authors: Antonarakis, Gregory S., Huanca Ghislanzoni, Luis, La Scala, Giorgio C., Fisher, David M.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 01.11.2020
• Subjects: Alveolar bone; Body height; Bone grafts; Children; Cleft lip/palate; Dentistry; geometric morphometrics; Morphometry; Orofacial clefts; Orthodontics; Principal components analysis; sella turcica; Statistical analysis; unilateral cleft lip and palate; unilateral cleft lip and palate; geometric morphometrics; sella turcica
• DOI: 10.1111/ocr.12380
• ISSN: 1601-6335

Objective To use morphometric methods to investigate the size and shape of the sella turcica in children with unilateral cleft lip and palate (UCLP). Setting and sample population Fifty‐six healthy children with non‐syndromic UCLP, from a major paediatric teaching hospital, with lateral cephalograms taken prior to alveolar bone grafting, were compared with an age‐ and sex‐matched control group of healthy children without orofacial clefts, with lateral cephalograms taken prior to orthodontic treatment. Materials and methods In this cross‐sectional study, conventional measurements were performed on the sella turcica to measure width, height and area on lateral cephalograms. Sella shape was also analysed using 11 points defining the sella turcica contours, using geometric morphometrics. Procrustes superimposition was used to register all sella contour tracings to calculate average sella shape. Principal component analysis was applied to the residuals of the point coordinates, and principal components (PCs) of shape were extracted. Results Statistically significant differences between the UCLP and control groups were found for sella posterior height, midpoint height, maximum height and area, where all of these were smaller in children with UCLP. Principal component analysis revealed that the first two PCs accounted for 84.7% of total shape variance. There was a statistically significant difference in sella shape between children with UCLP and control children. Conclusions In children with UCLP, the sella turcica is shorter and with a smaller surface area when compared to matched non‐cleft children. Moreover, sella turcica shape, when disregarding size, seems to differ to that of non‐cleft children.