Abstract Unilateral coronal craniosynostosis (UCS) affects many infants resulting in abnormalities affecting the forehead and orbits. As a result, the deformity caused by UCS is very noticeable and there are several surgical treatment options available to normalize the head shape. However, there is a lack of consistently used outcome measures, resulting in difficulty assessing surgical outcomes and on-going debate over optimal treatments. Current techniques to quantify deformity in UCS are cumbersome, provide limited information, or are based on subjective assessments. In this study, a cranial deformity index was developed to quantify abnormality at the frontal bones for UCS that is accessible, user-friendly, and generates objective surface distance measurements. The cranial deformity index is defined as the Euclidean distance at the point of the largest deviation between the deformed skull compared to a reference skull. In addition, the index was successfully used to quantify post-operative changes in a single case of UCS that underwent corrective surgery. The reproducibility of the index was assessed using test-retest reliability and was demonstrated to be highly reproducible (ICC = 0.93). A user-friendly measurement index that is based on open-source software may be a valuable tool for surgical teams. In addition, this information can augment the consultation experience for patients and their families.

中文翻译：

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单侧冠状颅缝早闭颅骨畸形指数的重测验证

摘要 单侧冠状颅缝早闭 (UCS) 影响许多婴儿，导致前额和眼眶异常。因此，由 UCS 引起的畸形非常明显，并且有多种手术治疗方案可用于使头部形状正常化。然而，缺乏一致使用的结果衡量标准，导致难以评估手术结果，并就最佳治疗方法进行持续辩论。目前量化 UCS 畸形的技术很麻烦，提供的信息有限，或者基于主观评估。在这项研究中，开发了一个颅骨畸形指数来量化 UCS 额骨的异常，该指数易于使用、用户友好，并生成客观的表面距离测量值。颅骨畸形指数定义为变形颅骨与参考颅骨之间最大偏差点处的欧几里德距离。此外，该指数成功地用于量化接受矫正手术的单个 UCS 病例的术后变化。该指数的可重复性使用重测信度进行评估，并被证明具有高度可重复性 (ICC = 0.93)。基于开源软件的用户友好的测量指标可能是手术团队的宝贵工具。此外，这些信息可以增强患者及其家属的咨询体验。该指数成功地用于量化接受矫正手术的单个 UCS 病例的术后变化。该指数的可重复性使用重测信度进行评估，并被证明具有高度可重复性 (ICC = 0.93)。基于开源软件的用户友好的测量指标可能是手术团队的宝贵工具。此外，这些信息可以增强患者及其家属的咨询体验。该指数成功地用于量化接受矫正手术的单个 UCS 病例的术后变化。该指数的可重复性使用重测信度进行评估，并被证明具有高度可重复性 (ICC = 0.93)。基于开源软件的用户友好的测量指标可能是手术团队的宝贵工具。此外，这些信息可以增强患者及其家属的咨询体验。