Digital Surface Photogrammetry for Anthropometric Analysis of the Cleft Infant Face

Abstract

Objective: To analyze the three-dimensional morphology of the cleft infant face with digital surface photogrammetry. Design: Fifty plaster casts of unoperated infants with cleft lip and palate were imaged three-dimensionally with digital surface photogrammetry. Twenty-one standard craniofacial measurements were taken. The plaster casts were divided into 4 groups with unilateral, bilateral, complete, and incomplete clefts of the lip and palate. The measurements were compared with standard values for healthy infants. Results: Significant differences (p < .0025) were found for the alar base width (33% to 55%), the alar base root width (59% to 103%), the width of the nose (7% to 25%), the length of the alar wing (18% to 25%), and the intercanthal (6% to 17%) and biocular (4% to 12%) width, depending on the cleft type. The vertical dimensions of the nose and the upper lip did not differ significantly from the controls. Conclusion: This study describes preliminary data on the cleft infant facial deformity. The obtained results were mainly in agreement with data in the limited literature. Three-dimensional photogrammetry has proven to be reliable and can be applied more readily to potentially uncooperative patients.