Stereophotogrammetry can feasibly assess ‘physiological’ longitudinal three-dimensional head development of very preterm infants from birth to term

Abstract

Head development is a surrogate for brain development in infants and is related to neurocognitive outcome. There is only limited knowledge on early extra-uterine head shape and size assessment in very preterm infants. Here, 26 very preterm infants with a mean gestational age of 29.1 ± 2.2 weeks and a mean birth weight of 1273.8 ± 427.7 g underwent serial stereophotogrammetric 3D head imaging in weekly intervals from birth to term-equivalent age. The main outcome was the longitudinal assessment of the ‘physiological’ preterm head development with cephalometric size (head circumference, cranial volume) and shape parameters (cranial index, cranial vault asymmetry index) according to chronological and postmenstrual age (PMA). Potential clinical risk factors for the development of an abnormal low cranial index (dolichocephaly) were analysed. In serial measurements of 26 infants, the estimated head volume (95% confidence interval) increased from 244 (226–263) cm3 at 28 weeks PMA to 705 (688–721) cm3 at 40 weeks PMA. Moderate or severe dolichocephaly occurred in 21/26 infants (80.8%). Cranial index decreased over time (72.4%; 70.7–74 95% confidence interval). Brachycephaly and plagiocephaly were uncommon. No risk factors for severe dolichocephaly were identified. Our study shows that early detection of head shape and size anomalies utilizing 3D stereophotogrammetry is feasible and safe even in very preterm infants < 1500 g and/or < 32 weeks. 3D stereophotogrammetry could be used for timely identification of infants at risk for head shape anomalies. No specific risk factors for head shape anomalies were identified, especially not mode and duration of respiratory support.

Denominator of Cranial Vault Asymmetry Index: Choosing Between Longer and Shorter Diagonal Lengths

“…A total of 30 original articles (Supplemental Table 1, Supplemental Digital Content 1, http://links.lww.com/SCS/E869) matched the inclusion criteria 3–32. There were 10 articles with LD denominators and 20 articles with SD denominators.…”

“…9 On the other hand, the absorbable plate and fixation system [the unsintered hydroxyapatite (uHA)/poly-L-lactic acid (uHA/ PLLA) plate system] have enough strength and stability to fix the segments in both maxillary and mandibular osteotomy such as Le Fort I osteotomy and SSRO. [10][11][12][13][14][15][16] The hybrid and bicortical absorbable plate fixation could show reliable stability with enough strength for class III mandibular setback and class II advancement surgery. 17 However, the comparison in the CT value of ramus bone between advancement surgery for class II and setback surgery for class III using the absorbable plate and screw has not been performed, although there was a study regarding the differences in the morphologic bone healing pattern.…”

Photogrammetry Applied to Neurosurgery: A Literature Review

“…Our review confirms the results of the paper and goes more in-depth on the software and systems used for the method. Additionally, we identified four papers published after the submission date of the aforementioned review [ 27 , 31 , 34 , 47 ]. Notably, among these studies, Kronig et al propose a novel approach to diagnosing craniosynostosis through photogrammetry with the use of the Utrecht Cranial Shape Quantificator method, which was successful in diagnosing each of the five types of craniosynostosis [ 31 ].…”

“…The most widely used systems among the studies are the 3dMD System (3dMD Inc., Atlanta, GA, USA) [ 24 , 25 , 30 , 42 ], and the Canfield VECTRA-360 nine-pod system (Canfield Scientific, Parsippany, NJ, USA) [ 27 , 47 , 49 , 51 ], which are developed specifically for the creation of 3D models from images. The systems come with proprietary software that deals with the integration of the images into one single model.…”

“…The systems come with proprietary software that deals with the integration of the images into one single model. For the refinement of the model third-party software is used, such as Blender [ 30 , 42 ] and MeshLab [ 27 , 47 ]. The alternative to using such technology is the use of standard cameras and third-party software both for the creation of the model and for its refinement, which was described in one paper [ 23 ].…”