Three-Dimensional Analysis of Craniofacial Form in a Familial Rabbit Model of Nonsyndromic Coronal Suture Synostosis Using Euclidean Distance Matrix Analysis

Abstract Objective: Simple craniosynostoses produce predictable morphologies of the cranial vault, with growth deficits in a direction parallel to the synostosed suture and compensatory growth at sutures that are perpendicular to and attached to the synostosed one. In coronal suture synostosis, antero posterior growth is inhibited, with compensatory growth in a transverse direction. Information on growth patterns and influence on other craniofacial regions are not as clear. This study tested the hypotheses that (1), both juvenile and adult rabbits with familial, nonsyndromic coronal suture synostosis exhibit significant size and shape differences of the entire craniofacial region relative to normal rabbits as a result of altered growth patterns and that (2), shape differences of the calvaria will precede those of the basicranium. Design: Fifty anatomic landmarks were located on 94 New Zealand white rabbit crania. The crania were divided into a juvenile, six-week-old age category (n = 53) and an adult, 18-...