Integrated Cranio-Cervical Organization in Adults: Association Between Morphocranial Pattern and Segmental Cervical Alignment After Orthodontic Treatment
Retrospective study reveals cranial-base morphology correlates with segmental cervical spine alignment in adults, indicating integrated cranio-cervical structural relationships.
Key Points
To evaluate the association between cranial-base angle morphology and segmental cervical spine alignment, and determine whether cervical inclination changes differentially across morphocranial patterns during orthodontic treatment.
Analyzed pre- and post-treatment lateral cephalograms in natural head position from N=297 adult orthodontic patients classified into brachycephalic (<115°), mesocephalic (115–124°), and dolichocephalic (>124°) groups using the Cl-Na/Cl-Ba angle.
Measured segmental cervical inclination (C2–C5) and sagittal coordinates, analyzing longitudinal variations with linear mixed-effects models adjusted for age, sex, cervical segment, and repeated measures.
Continuous cranial-base angle was inversely correlated with all segmental cervical inclinations (ρ = −0.213 to −0.333; p ≤ 0.002) and spatial coordinates, most prominently vertical position (C2 Y: ρ = −0.653; p < 0.001).
Linear mixed-effects modeling demonstrated significant main effects for time (p = 0.014) and morphocranial pattern (p < 0.001), but found no significant time-by-morphocranial-pattern interaction (p = 0.184).