A Morphometric Analysis of Developmental Instability in Children Born with Unilateral Cleft Lip and Palate.

INTRODUCTION: Unilateral cleft lip and palate (UCLP) is a congenital deformity that occurs due to inadequate merging of the nasal and maxillary prominences during fetal development. Randomly distributed bilateral asymmetries known as fluctuating asymmetry (FA) occur in normally symmetric organisms when evolved mechanisms of developmental stability or equilibrium are disturbed by genetic, environmental, or unknown factors. Here we hypothesize that facial skeleton FA will be increased in a sample of individuals born with UCLP (n = 24) relative to sex- and age-matched controls (n = 24).

MATERIALS AND METHODS: To test this hypothesis, twenty-three anatomical landmarks were measured on individual anonymized cone-beam computerized tomography (CBCT) images in children and adolescents (7-17 years). For each individual, 81 pairs of linear distances were used to estimate FAs across the face. To explore sample variation and statistical differences, a principal components analysis and Euclidean Distance Matrix Analysis multivariate bootstrap approach were carried out.

RESULTS: Samples show some separation in multivariate space with 44.44% of FA differences being significantly different. The magnitude of FA was larger in the UCLP sample for every significant measurement.

CONCLUSIONS: The magnitude of significant FA is highest near regions derived from the maxillary and nasal prominences, such as the nasal aperture. These results are useful for medical and dental practitioners when developing treatment options for children and adolescents with UCLP. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.