Analysis of cranial type characteristics in term infants: a multi-center study

Abstract Background Positional head deformity (PHD) is defined as a change in the shape of an infant’s skull due to external force. In certain cases, it can lead cosmetic deformities or even neurological issues its impact on developing nervous system. Therefore, we conducted this study investigate incidence and characteristics PHD term infants China preliminarily establish localized diagnostic reference standard. Methods Overall, 4456 from three medical institutions Chongqing were divided analyzed according their age. Cranial vault asymmetry (CVA) cephalic index (CI) calculated all infants. The current international criteria used understand analyze CVA CI distribution. Results According standards, total detection rate Chongqing’s was 81.5%, with brachycephaly alone being most frequent (39.4%), followed by plagiocephaly (34.8%) (6.2%). rates dolichocephaly low: alone, 0.9% combined plagiocephaly, 0.2%. age, (44.5%) (82.0%) 2-3-month group. 75th/90th/97th 3rd/10th/25th/75th/90th/97th percentiles CIs 0.4/0.7/1.0 76.4/78.8/82.3/91.1/94.6/99.2%, respectively. Conclusions among high. new standard for Chinese proposed where ≥ 0.4 cm indicates 91% brachycephaly, ≤ 82% dolichocephaly.