BaS analysis: suggesting a new cephalometric model in follow-up of patients with craniostenosis who underwent craniofacial advancement surgery after 1 year from the end of the distraction protocol

Evaluation of the relapse in patients with craniofacial malformation who underwent craniofacial advancement surgery is very difficult, and data are often unreliable. This is because common skeletal landmarks move from their original position, making standard cephalometries completely useless. To solve this problem, some authors proposed evaluations based on 2- and 3-dimensional computed tomographies, but the biologic risk and the economic outcome do not consent to repeat this kind of examination too often. In this paper, the authors propose a new cephalometric model based on the evaluation of facial skeletal landmarks on the BaS axis. This method, named BaS analysis, might be useful in evaluating improvements of the splanchnocranium in patients who underwent craniofacial advancement.