Craniofacial growth in shunt-treated hydrocephalics: a four-year roentgenocephalometric follow-up study.

The craniofacial growth of 24 shunt-treated hydrocephalics aged 5-15 years was evaluated over a 4-year period, by comparing changes in linear and angular cephalometric variables with those of an age- and sex-matched control group. The main findings were increased calvarial thickness, increased cranial base flexure, superior displacement of the sella, and a tendency for the gonial angle to remain more obtuse in the shunt-treated patients. As craniofacial growth in the latter differed only slightly from that observed in the controls, the deviations in facial morphology observed in a previous cross-sectional study of shunt-treated hydrocephalics can be taken to represent a long-term effect of the shunt treatment.