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Enlarged occipital spur and craniofacial morphology: a cephalometric analysis

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Abstract

Objective

This cross-sectional study aimed to investigate the association between the occipital spur length and craniofacial morphology in individuals with occipital spur (OS).

Methods

The study included cephalometric images from 451 individuals (196 females, 255 males, age range was 9–84 years). The spur length and craniofacial characteristics were evaluated using cephalograms. Based on spur length, subjects were divided into two groups: the OS group (N = 209) and the enlarged occipital spur (EOS) group (N = 242). Descriptive statistics, Independent T-test, Mann–Whitney U test, chi-square test, Kruskal–Wallis test, and age- and sex-based stratified analyses were performed. The level of significance was set at p < 0.05.

Results

Males had significantly larger spur length than females. Spur length was shorter in individuals under 18 than the groups over 18. After adjusting for gender and age, ramus height, mandibular body length, effective length of maxilla, effective length of mandible, anterior cranial base length, posterior cranial base length, anterior facial height, posterior facial height, facial height index, and lower anterior facial height had statistically significant differences between OS group and EOS group.

Conclusions

Males exhibit greater spur length than females. Patients under 18 had a shorter spur length than adults. Linear craniofacial measurements were found to be greater in subjects with EOS than the individuals with OS. The craniofacial growth and development of an individual might be associated with EOS. The causal relationship between EOS and craniofacial development requires further longitudinal studies.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the participation of all radiologists, respondents, as well as the anonymous reviewers for their helpful remarks.

Funding

This research was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 82271019, 81970967), Sichuan Health Commission Medical Science and Technology Program (21ZD003) and Research and Develop Program, West China Hospital of Stomatology Sichuan University (RD-03–202101) to J. W.

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Author notes

  1. Qiaoyu Cheng and Xin Xiong contributed equally to this manuscript.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Orthodontics, National Clinical Research Center for Oral Diseases, State Key Laboratory of Oral Diseases, West China Hospital of Stomatology, Sichuan University, No. 14, Third Section, Renmin South Road, Chengdu, 610041, Sichuan, People’s Republic of China

    Qiaoyu Cheng, Xin Xiong, Yaqi Li, Chuqiao Xiao, Sophie Lau Rui Han, Peidi Fan, Xueman Zhou & Jun Wang

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  1. Qiaoyu Cheng
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  2. Xin Xiong
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  7. Xueman Zhou
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  8. Jun Wang
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Correspondence to Jun Wang.

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The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest related to the manuscript.

Ethical approval

All procedures followed were in accordance with the ethical standards of the responsible committee on human experimentation (Institution Review Board of the West China Hospital of Stomatology, Sichuan University, China) and with the Helsinki Declaration of 1975, as revised in 2008 (5).

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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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The authors declare that all data supporting the findings of this study are available in the article.

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Cheng, Q., Xiong, X., Li, Y. et al. Enlarged occipital spur and craniofacial morphology: a cephalometric analysis. Oral Radiol 39, 743–749 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11282-023-00694-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11282-023-00694-7

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