Comparison of Suturectomy and Cranioplasty Outcomes for Nonsyndromic Craniosynostosis: A Retrospective Study

Background and Aims:This paper attempts to investigate the variation of craniosynostosis subtypes over time and comparison of surgical outcome in patients who underwent suturectomy versus cranioplasty at the Mofid Pediatric Surgery Center in Iran. Methods:In a retrospective investigation, personal, clinical, and paraclinical data were extracted from medical records of 250 infants/children with nonsyndromic craniosynostosis who underwent operation from 1996 to 2011 in Mofid Pediatric Hospital. Samples were separated into 2 groups according to surgical method type. The surgical outcome had been ranked using Haberl Scale by 2 neurologists 1 year after surgery. Using &khgr;2 test, suturectomy and cranioplasty outcomes were compared and the effective factors on the surgical outcome were also investigated. Results:Schaphocephaly (40%) and anterior plagiocephaly (28.8%) were prevalently delineated among phenotypes which gradually varied over time. The most prevalent age ranges at operation were 2 to 4 months for suturectomy and 6 to 12 months for cranioplasty. Patients mainly underwent suturectomy (61.2%). About 84% of operated cases demonstrated very good outcome. There was not significant difference between suturectomy and cranioplasty groups with respect to the surgical outcome. Age at operation exhibited a significant effect on the surgical outcome. Conclusions:It seems that age at surgery is an important factor to prognosticate surgical outcome versus type of surgical method and phenotype of craniosynostosis in operated patients with nonsyndrome craniosynostosis. Namely, operation of younger pediatric cases leads to a satisfactory outcome.