TY - JOUR T1 - A Posterior-Anterior Cephalometric Study of Skull Symmetry in Patients With Neurofibromatosis Type 1 JF - Anticancer Research JO - Anticancer Res SP - 5033 LP - 5044 DO - 10.21873/anticanres.15318 VL - 41 IS - 10 AU - REINHARD E. FRIEDRICH AU - GEORG CHRIST AU - HANNAH T. SCHEUER AU - HANNA A. SCHEUER Y1 - 2021/10/01 UR - http://ar.iiarjournals.org/content/41/10/5033.abstract N2 - Background/Aim: Neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) is a tumor predisposition syndrome. Bone findings make a significant contribution to the clinical diagnosis of NF1. It has been suggested that there are characteristic skeletal features of the NF1 patients’ skull that cause a specific ‘NF1 facies’. To test this thesis, skull examinations were carried out on NF1 patients. Patients and Methods: The posteroanterior (PA) cephalograms of 76 patients with NF1 were analyzed using defined measuring points. Patients with confirmed facial plexiform neurofibromas (PNF) were excluded from the study. A special interest of the investigation was the symmetry of the measuring points defined as the distance to the median sagittal plane. Results: NF1 patients have a slightly larger distance to the Z-plane than controls at the zygomatic arch and mastoid measurement points (p=0.027 and 0.028, respectively). In contrast, the distances of the juga and antegonion measurement points from the horizontal reference plane are larger in the control group (p=0.002 and 0.480, respectively). The transverse development of the midface at the level of the zygomatic arch showed no differences from the control group (p=0.841). The transverse diameter of the skull at the mastoid and juga measurement points is smaller in the NF1 group compared to the control group (p=0.010 and 0.002, respectively). There is a statistically significant left-right (LR) asymmetry of the distances to the median sagittal plane in favor of the left side in the patient group (p=0.002 to 0.037). However, the numerical deviations from the control group are small overall. Conclusion: Considering the natural, biological deviations of cephalometric measurements of the individual from idealized geometric norms, the facial skeleton of NF1 patients is symmetrically developed. It is unlikely that the calculated LR asymmetry of the patients has a visible effect. In comparison to cephalometric values of a normal population, no characteristic facial skeleton of the NF1 patient in the PA projection of the skull can be derived from these findings. Clear asymmetries of the facial skeleton should give rise to further diagnosis to clarify the suspicion of facial PNF. ER -