Photogrammetric assessment of the soft tissue profile in unilateral cleft lip and palate

NOTE: THE MATHEMATICAL SYMBOLS/SPECIAL CHARACTERS IN THIS ABSTRACT CANNOT BE DISPLAYED CORRECTLY ON THIS PAGE. PLEASE REFER TO THE ABSTRACT IN THE ATTACHED FILE/ PUBLISHER’S WEBSITE FOR AN ACCURATE DISPLAY. Objective: To describe the soft tissue profile of children with unilateral cleft lip and palate from profile photographs and assess the reliability of this method. Design: Retrospective analysis of prospectively collected data. Setting: A national study in the United Kingdom. Subjects: Caucasian children born in the United Kingdom between April 1, 1982, and March 31, 1984, and aged between 12 and 14 years at data collection. A cleft side and noncleft side profile photograph was available for each of 175 children. Method: Seven angular measurements were made using Dentofacial Planner Plus software, and the profile appearance was rated by an expert panel. Results: Reliability for repeated measurement of the same photograph was acceptable for all but li-sms-pgs (labiomental fold). Similar levels of reliability were found when comparing measurements from the cleft side and non-cleft side photograph. Logistic regression showed that the variables nst-sn-ls (nasolabial angle), sss-ns-pgs (maxillary prominence), and gs-prn-pgs (facial convexity) were associated with the profile score. Conclusions: Soft tissue profile analysis from photographs is reliable and robust under a range of conditions. Soft tissue profile measurements are associated with panel ratings of profile