TITLE:
Assessment of alveolar defect volume in unilateral cleft lip and palate patients using a free software program
AUTHORS:
Patricia Picolli, Luciane Macedo de Menezes, Márcia Brucker, Fabiane Azeredo, Susana Maria Deon Rizzatto
KEYWORDS:
Alveolar Process; Cleft Palate; Computed Tomography; Volumetric Assessment
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Stomatology,
Vol.3 No.9A,
December
4,
2013
ABSTRACT: The purpose of this study was to assess the alveolar defect volume in unilateral cleft lip and
palate (UCLP) subjects using computed tomography (CT) and a free
software program to evaluate the intra- and inter-rater measurements, and to
compare the cleft volume between age and affected side. The sample of this retrospective
study consisted of 20 UCLP individuals, 12 boys and 8 girls, mean age 10.3 ± 2.4
years at the beginning of orthodontic treatment. All subjects required
alveolar bone grafting. CT scans of the cleft area were obtained prior to
secondary bone grafting, and were analyzed using Image J. software program. The cleft volume was calculated based on
axial cross-sectional CT images by two raters (orthodontist and radiologist)
and by the same rater (orthodontist) at two different moments. Linear
mixed model, Bland-Altman, Pearson’s and intraclass correlation coefficient
(ICC) were used. The mean cleft volume was 7.53 ± 1.55 mm3. The intra- and inter-rater measurements
were reproducible (ICC = 0.976 and 0.963, respectively) with no significant
difference between them. There were no statistically significant differences
in the cleft volume related to age or cleft location. The assessment of cleft
volume in UCLP using CT images and a free software program was a reproducible
method. There was no significant relation between alveolar defect volume and
age or cleft location.