Occipitofrontal head circumference—an accurate measure of intracranial volume

Bray, Patrick F.; Shields, W. Donald; Wolcott, George J.; Madsen, Jack A.

doi:10.1016/s0022-3476(69)80404-x

Cited by 148 publications

(48 citation statements)

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“…26 There are 2 studies in which the correlation between OFC and ICV was evaluated in healthy individuals. 6,7 They found correlations of r = 0.97 and r = 0.98, which is slightly higher than the correlation of r = 0.91 that we found in our study population. Apparently, although the skull shape is altered in children with craniosynostosis, it turns out that the OFC is still a reliable tool to evaluate ICV.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 71%

“…However, it is unknown whether OFC and ICV correlate in patients with a severe skull deformity. Although OFC and ICV have been shown to correlate in healthy individuals, 6,7 a small study (n = 7) in infants with an abnormal head shape, including 5 with craniosynostosis, could not find any correlation. 7 The aim of the present study is to evaluate the correlation between OFC and ICV in children with different craniosynostosis syndromes, and to assess the predictive value of OFC in these patients.…”

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confidence: 87%

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The occipitofrontal circumference: reliable prediction of the intracranial volume in children with syndromic and complex craniosynostosis

Rijken

Ottelander

Veelen

et al. 2015

FOC

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OBJECT Patients with syndromic and complex craniosynostosis are characterized by the premature fusion of one or more cranial sutures. These patients are at risk for developing elevated intracranial pressure (ICP). There are several factors known to contribute to elevated ICP in these patients, including craniocerebral disproportion, hydrocephalus, venous hypertension, and obstructive sleep apnea. However, the causal mechanism is unknown, and patients develop elevated ICP even after skull surgery. In clinical practice, the occipitofrontal circumference (OFC) is used as an indirect measure for intracranial volume (ICV), to evaluate skull growth. However, it remains unknown whether OFC is a reliable predictor of ICV in patients with a severe skull deformity. Therefore, in this study the authors evaluated the relation between ICV and OFC. METHODS Eighty-four CT scans obtained in 69 patients with syndromic and complex craniosynostosis treated at the Erasmus University Medical Center-Sophia Children’s Hospital were included. The ICV was calculated based on CT scans by using autosegmentation with an HU threshold < 150. The OFC was collected from electronic patient files. The CT scans and OFC measurements were matched based on a maximum amount of the time that was allowed between these examinations, which was dependent on age. A Pearson correlation coefficient was calculated to evaluate the correlations between OFC and ICV. The predictive value of OFC, age, and sex on ICV was then further evaluated using a univariate linear mixed model. The significant factors in the univariate analysis were subsequently entered in a multivariate mixed model. RESULTS The correlations found between OFC and ICV were r = 0.908 for the total group (p < 0.001), r = 0.981 for Apert (p < 0.001), r = 0.867 for Crouzon-Pfeiffer (p < 0.001), r = 0.989 for Muenke (p < 0.001), r = 0.858 for Saethre- Chotzen syndrome (p = 0.001), and r = 0.917 for complex craniosynostosis (p < 0.001). Age and OFC were significant predictors of ICV in the univariate linear mixed model (p < 0.001 for both factors). The OFC was the only predictor that remained significant in the multivariate analysis (p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS The OFC is a significant predictor of ICV in patients with syndromic and complex craniosynostosis. Therefore, measuring the OFC during clinical practice is very useful in determining which patients are at risk for impaired skull growth.

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Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 71%

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confidence: 87%

The occipitofrontal circumference: reliable prediction of the intracranial volume in children with syndromic and complex craniosynostosis

Rijken

Ottelander

Veelen

et al. 2015

FOC

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“…Head circumference is considered a good and reliable indicator of brain weight (Cooke et al, 1977;Epstein and Epstein, 1978;Fujimura and Seryu, 1977;McLennan et al, 1983) and intracranial volume (Bray et al, 1969;Buda et al, 1975) during the prenatal period and first year of life (Bray et al, 1969;Dobbing, 1970), where about 96% of the variation in postmortem brain weight is explained by head circumference (Cooke et al, 1977). The linear relationship between postmortem brain weight and head circumference in infants (ranging in age from 18 -43 weeks of gestation) is described by the relationship: log 10 BW ϭ 3.003 * log 10 HC Ϫ 2.0306…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fetal and infant head circumference sexual dimorphism in primates

Joffe

Tarantal

Rice

et al. 2004

American J Phys Anthropol

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Studies have shown that after controlling for the effects of body size on brain size, the brains of adult humans, rhesus monkeys, and chimpanzees differ in relative size, where males have a greater volume of cerebral tissue than females. We assess whether head circumference sexual dimorphism is present during early development by evaluating sex differences in relative head circumference in living fetuses and infants within the first year of life. Head circumference is used as a proxy for brain size in the fetus and infant. Femur length is used as a proxy for body length in the fetus. Ultrasonography was used to obtain fetal measures, and anthropometry was used to obtain postnatal measures in humans, rhesus monkeys, baboons, and common marmosets. We show that statistically significant but low levels of head circumference sexual dimorphism are present in humans, rhesus monkeys, and baboons in early life. On average, males have head circumferences about 2% larger than females of comparable femur/body length in humans, rhesus monkeys, and baboons. No evidence for head circumference sexual dimorphism in the common marmoset was found. Dimorphism was present across all body size ranges. We suggest that head circumference sexual dimorphism emerges largely postnatally and increases throughout maturation, particularly in humans who reach adult dimorphism values greater than the monkeys. We suggest that brain dimorphism is not likely to impose an additional energetic burden to the gestating or lactating mother. Finally, some of the problems with ascribing functional significance to brain size sexual dimorphism are discussed, and the energetic implications for brain size sexual dimorphism in infancy are assessed.

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“…The occipito-frontal head circumference (OFC) represents an indirect parameter of brain growth [Bray et al, 1969;Winick and Rosso, 19691. The documentation of the OFC during infancy and early childhood is therefore of great importance.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Head circumference of children with Williams‐Beuren syndrome

et al. 1994

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Head circumference is considered an important parameter of brain growth and development. Syndrome-specific standards for head circumference in Williams-Beuren syndrome (WBS) are not available to date, although mental retardation is a leading manifestation in the syndrome. Therefore, we investigated head growth in 63 girls (251 measurements) and 88 boys (298 measurements) with WBS between birth and adulthood. Most measurements in both sexes were from the first 4 years of life (n = 162 in girls and n = 189 in boys). Mean (+/- SD) head circumference at birth was 33.39 +/- 1.38 cm and 34.02 +/- 1.44 cm for term girls and boys, respectively. Although head growth in WBS girls and boys was at a slower velocity, the pattern of head circumference was similar to that in the normal population. After the age of 3 months, head circumference started to fall below the normal mean in girls (0.5-2 cm). In boys, mean head circumference was below the normal mean already at 1 month of age (2 cm). The deficit increased to 3 cm from 6 months to 4 years. Adult OFC was 52.85 +/- 1.75 cm (n = 16) compared to 55.70 +/- 1.83 cm (n = 46; P < 0.00001) in WBS women and 55.51 +/- 1.68 cm (n = 30) compared to 57.87 +/- 1.29 cm (n = 31; P < 0.00001) in WBS men. During development, microcephaly is only seen in about one third of WBS patients.

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Occipitofrontal head circumference—an accurate measure of intracranial volume

Cited by 148 publications

References 4 publications

The occipitofrontal circumference: reliable prediction of the intracranial volume in children with syndromic and complex craniosynostosis

The occipitofrontal circumference: reliable prediction of the intracranial volume in children with syndromic and complex craniosynostosis

Fetal and infant head circumference sexual dimorphism in primates

Head circumference of children with Williams‐Beuren syndrome

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