Abstract
Introduction: Raised intracranial pressure (ICP) is a well-known aspect of craniosynostosis (CS), but its relationship to cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) flow disturbance is not clear. As far as we know, there are no reports that have evaluated changes in CSF flow disturbance after distraction osteogenesis. The aim of our pilot study was to examine the ratio of the CSF volume and brain tissue (grey matter (GM) and white matter (WM)) volume in CS patients before and after surgery.
Methods: Between April 2017 and May 2022, eight patients have been treated for craniosynostosis. We compared the ratio of CSF volume to GM and WM volume between preoperative and postoperative cases. Data was analyzed using voxel based morphometry (VBM) in statistical parametric mapping (SPM) 12 software. A 3 Tesla MRI machine provided 3 dimensional spoiled gradient-recalled (3DSPGR) sequence for all cases.
Results: The ratio of CSF volume in preoperative cases was significantly higher than in postoperative cases (19.3% vs 14.8%, p＝0.025). And the ratio of CSF volume in preoperative cases with distraction osteogenesis was significantly higher than in postoperative cases with distraction osteogenesis (21.4% vs 15.9%, p＝0.03).
Conclusions: This pilot study of the ratio of CSF volume to GM and WM volume in CS patients showed that CSF flow disturbance was improved by cranial distraction.
