Journal of cranio-maxillo-facial surgery : official publication of the European Association for Cranio-Maxillo-Facial Surgery
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J Craniomaxillofac Surg · Jan 2018
Comparative StudyFacial asymmetry correction with moulded helmet therapy in infants with deformational skull base plagiocephaly.
The recommendation issued by the American Academy of Pediatrics in the early 1990s to position infants on their back during sleep to prevent sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) has dramatically reduced the number of deaths due to SIDS but has also markedly increased the prevalence of positional skull deformation in infants. Deformation of the base of the skull occurs predominantly in very severe deformational plagiocephaly and is accompanied by facial asymmetry, as well as an altered ear position, called ear shift. Moulded helmet therapy has become an accepted treatment strategy for infants with deformational plagiocephaly. The aim of this study was to determine whether facial asymmetry could be corrected by moulded helmet therapy. ⋯ Moulded helmet therapy can correct facial symmetry in infants with deformational plagiocephaly and associated facial and basal skull asymmetry.