Biomedical subjects

Claudia Dellavia

Publications and source records attributed to Claudia Dellavia.

31 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

PubMed2004

Soft tissue facial anthropometry in Down syndrome subjects.

The three-dimensional coordinates of 50 selected soft tissue facial landmarks were digitized on 28 white Italian subjects with Down syndrome (17 male and 11 female subjects aged 12 to 45 years) and 429 healthy controls of comparable ages by an electromechanical instrument. From the landmarks, 16 facial dimensions were calculated. Data were compared with those collected in healthy individuals by computing z-scores. Overall, most variables were smaller in subjects with Down syndrome than in their normal controls selected for sex, age, and ethnicity (negative z-scores), even if not all of them reached statistical significance. Independently of sex, subjects with Down syndrome had faces that were significantly (P <0.05, paired Student t test) narrower (skull base and mandible), less deep (upper, middle, and lower face), and shorter (face and nose height) than the faces of normal subjects. Additionally, ear width and length were significantly reduced on both sides of the face. Only facial height was significantly different between sexes (P = 0.023, unpaired Student t test), with a female z-score that was more than two times the relevant male value. The present investigation represents the first detailed quantitative analysis of the facial soft tissue characteristics of Italian white subjects with Down syndrome.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2004

Three-dimensional assessment of nose and lip morphology in subjects with down syndrome.

Nasolabial morphology was assessed 3-dimensionally in 28 subjects with Down syndrome aged 12-45 years and in 449 sex- and age-matched controls. Subject and reference data were compared by computing z scores and calculating Student's t tests. The nose was significantly smaller (volume, area) in the subjects with Down syndrome than in the reference subjects, and it had a different shape (more flat angle of alar slope, more acute nasal tip angle). The vertical (length of the nasal bridge, height of the nose) and anteroposterior (nasal tip protrusion) dimensions were reduced, while the horizontal dimensions (alar base width, superior and inferior widths of the nostrils) were increased. The lower lip was significantly smaller (volume, area, vermilion height), while the upper lip was larger (area, vermilion height) in the subjects with Down syndrome. The mouth width was also significantly smaller. In conclusion, the analyzed subjects with Down syndrome had a hypoplastic nose and different upper and lower lips than reference, normal subjects.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2004

Variations in facial soft tissues of italian individuals with ectodermal dysplasia.

OBJECTIVE: To supply quantitative information about the facial soft tissues of patients with ectodermal dysplasia (ED). DESIGN, SETTING, AND PATIENTS: The three-dimensional coordinates of soft tissue facial landmarks were obtained using an electromagnetic digitizer in 20 Caucasian patients with ED (11 male and 9 female patients aged 7 to 41 years) and 391 healthy controls (163 female and 228 male subjects of comparable ages). From the landmarks, 15 facial dimensions and two angles were calculated. Data were compared with those collected in healthy individuals by computing z-scores. Two summary anthropometric measurements for quantifying craniofacial variations were assessed in both the patients and reference subjects: the mean z-score (an index of overall facial size) and its standard deviation, called the craniofacial variability index (an index of facial harmony). RESULTS: In patients with ED, a large variability was found for both the mean z-score and the craniofacial variability index. On average, the patients had a somewhat smaller facial size than the normal individuals, with a global disharmonious appearance. Overall, 70% of patients fell outside the quantitative definitions for normal facial size, harmony or both. When examining the distribution of the single z-scores of the 17 selected measurements, variable patterns were found, without consistent effects of age or sex. CONCLUSIONS: The facial soft tissue structures of patients with ED differed both in size and shape from those of normal controls of the same age, sex, and ethnic group.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2003

Growth and aging of facial soft tissues: A computerized three-dimensional mesh diagram analysis.

The normal growth, development, and aging of facial soft tissues was studied by three-dimensional (3D) computerized mesh diagram analysis. The 3D coordinates of 50 soft-tissue landmarks were collected from 591 healthy white northern Italians (351 males, 240 females) 6-40 years of age. For each gender and age class, mean values were computed, and a standardized mesh of equidistant horizontal, vertical, and anterior-posterior lines was constructed. Within each age group, male meshes were superimposed on female meshes. For each gender, the 6-year-old reference mesh was superimposed on the reference mesh of each age group. The global (size plus shape) difference was evaluated by calculating the relevant displacement vectors for each landmark. Consequently, a size normalization was carried out and the shape difference was evaluated by calculating new relevant displacement vectors for each landmark. Growth and development were different along the three spatial planes: the largest increment was observed in the vertical dimension, with major modifications in the soft-tissue profile. The vertical dimension in males increased even after 30 years of age: ear dimensions increased, trichion moved superiorly and posteriorly, and pogonion, menton, and gonion moved anteriorly and inferiorly. In all age groups, size-standardized shape differences were found in the forehead, lower-third facial profile, eyes, cheeks, and ears. In each age class, male dimensions were larger than female dimensions. During childhood, gender differences in size were limited; shape differences were even less manifest. Overall, the profile was more anterior and inferior, the gonia were more inferior and more lateral, the forehead was more anterior, and the ears were larger in males than in females of corresponding age.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2003

Relation between vertical facial morphology and jaw muscle activity in healthy young men.

The aim of the current investigation was to quantitatively analyze the relation between the activity of masticatory muscles and the inclination of the mandibular plane in a group of 73 healthy white men aged 20-36 years. The three-dimensional coordinates of soft-tissue landmarks gnathion and left and right gonion were digitized using an electromagnetic computerized instrument, the orientation of mandibular plane relative to the true vertical was computed and projected on the anatomical sagittal plane. The electromyographic (EMG) potentials of left and right masseter and temporalis anterior during maximum voluntary teeth clenching were recorded, and the mean EMG amplitude calculated. Two groups of men with opposite facial morphology were then selected: all men with a steep mandibular plane (higher than the mean plus one standard deviation) entered a first group (10 'long face' subjects), while all men with a relatively more horizontal mandibular plane (lower than the mean minus one standard deviation) entered a second group (13 'short face' subjects). Mean EMG potentials computed in the two groups were compared by using Student's t -test for independent samples. All the EMG potentials recorded during maximum voluntary clench in the 'long face' men were lower than that recorded in the 'short face' men, with statistically significant differences for all four analyzed muscles (p < 0.05). In conclusion, a non-invasive three-dimensional method confirmed that facial morphology and muscular function are significantly related, at least in men with a sound stomatognathic apparatus.

Adult↗

PubMed2003

A quantitative three-dimensional assessment of soft tissue facial asymmetry of cleft lip and palate adult patients.

The three-dimensional coordinates of 23 selected soft-tissue facial landmarks were digitized on 18 cleft lip and palate (CLP) white patients (11 male and 7 female patients aged 19-27 years) and 161 healthy controls (73 female and 89 male subjects aged 18-30 years) by an electromagnetic instrument. Facial asymmetry was quantified by detecting a plane of symmetry and the centers of gravity (CG) of the right and left hemifaces and by calculating the distance between the two CG (distance from symmetry [DFS]). Both absolute (millimeters) and percentage (of the nasion center of gravity distance) DFS was obtained. The asymmetry of single landmarks was also quantified. Overall, asymmetry in operated CLP patients appeared only moderately larger than that measured in the healthy reference population, with the largest value being only 5% larger than the maximum normal asymmetry. Female patients had a somewhat larger lateral asymmetry than male patients, and unilateral CLP patients (particularly the men) were more asymmetrical than bilateral CLP patients. Pronasale and subnasale landmarks were asymmetrical in 8 patients, whereas endocanthion, zygion, cheilion, and gonion landmarks were symmetrical in all patients. In conclusion, the facial soft-tissue structures of CLP patients operated on as adults were only moderately more asymmetrical than those measured in a reference group of the same age, sex, and ethnicity.

Adult↗

PubMed2003

Three-dimensional nasal morphology in cleft lip and palate operated adult patients.

Nasal morphology was assessed three-dimensionally in 18 cleft lip and palate operated patients aged 19 to 27 years, and in 161 sex- and age-matched control subjects. Comparisons were performed by Student t and Watson-Williams' tests. No differences were found in nasal volume or surface. Nasal width, alar base width, and inferior width of the nostrils were significantly larger in male patients than in the reference men. The nasal bridge was shorter. Similar differences were found in the female patients. In addition, the right nostril was larger and the nasal height shorter. In men, the nasolabial and the nasal tip angles were smaller in the patients than in the reference subjects, whereas the facial convexity angle was larger in the patients. In conclusion, the nose of adult operated cleft lip and palate patients differed from that of normal control subjects. Surgical corrections of the cleft lip and palate failed to provide a completely normal appearance. The methods might be used to indicate where additional procedures might be performed to approximate a reference population.

Adult↗

PubMed2003

A quantitative three-dimensional assessment of abnormal variations in facial soft tissues of adult patients with cleft lip and palate.

OBJECTIVE: To supply quantitative information about the facial soft tissues of adult operated patients with cleft lip and palate (CLP). DESIGN, SETTING, AND PATIENTS: The three-dimensional coordinates of soft tissue facial landmarks were obtained using an electromagnetic digitizer in 18 Caucasian patients with CLP (11 males and 7 females aged 19 to 27 years) and 162 healthy controls (73 females and 89 males aged 18 to 30 years). From the landmarks, 15 facial dimensions and two angles were calculated. Data were compared with those collected in healthy individuals by computing z-scores. Two summary anthropometric measurements for quantifying craniofacial variations were assessed in both the patients and reference subjects: the mean z-score (an index of overall facial size), and its SD, called the craniofacial variability index (an index of facial harmony). RESULTS: In treated patients with CLP, facial size was somewhat smaller than in normal individuals, but in all occasions the mean z-score fell inside the normal interval (mean +/- 2 SD). Almost all patients had a craniofacial variability index larger than the normal interval, indicating a global disharmonious appearance. Overall, in patients pronasale, subnasale, and pogonion were more posterior, the nose was shorter and larger, the face was narrower, and the soft tissue profile and upper lip were flatter than in the reference population. CONCLUSIONS: The facial soft tissue structures of adult operated patients with CLP differed from those of normal controls of the same age, sex, and ethnic group. In this patient group, surgical corrections of CLP failed to provide a completely harmonious appearance, even if the deviations from the reference were limited. Further analyses of larger groups of patients are needed.

Adult↗

PubMed2002

Relationship between the number of occlusal contacts and masticatory muscle activity in healthy young adults.

The electromyographic (EMG) potentials of left and right masseter and temporalis anterior muscles were recorded in 23 healthy young adults during: 1. a 3-second maximum voluntary clench (MVC) on cotton rolls positioned on the posterior teeth (standardized recording); and 2. a 3-second MVC in intercuspal position. EMG potentials recorded in intercuspal position were standardized as a percentage of the mean potentials of the standardized recording, and the EMG muscle activity was calculated. The number of occlusal contacts in intercuspal position was assessed by using eight microm thick shim stocks. Two groups of subjects with either 1. Less than ten occlusal contacts (11 subjects with "few contacts"); or 2. At least ten occlusal contacts (12 subjects with "many contacts") were selected. The MVC muscle activity in the "few contacts" group was significantly lower than that recorded in the "many contacts" group (p<0.005). In conclusion, the number of occlusal contacts and masticatory muscular function are significantly related, at least in young adults with a sound stomatognathic apparatus.

Adult↗

PubMed2002

Three-dimensional hard tissue palatal size and shape: a 10-year longitudinal evaluation in healthy adults.

A 10-year longitudinal evaluation of the morphology (size and shape) of hard tissue palate was performed in 6 female and 6 male healthy adults (mean age at the second evaluation was 33 years, SD = 2.2). All subjects had a complete permanent dentition, including the second molars, and were free from respiratory problems. Palatal landmarks were digitized with a computerized 3D instrument, and their coordinates were used to derive a mathematical model of palatal form. Palatal shape (size-independent) was assessed by a fourth-grade polynomial in the sagittal and frontal plane projections. Palatal dimensions in the frontal and sagittal planes were computed and compared between the 2 evaluations by paired Student t tests. A great variability was observed, and no significant modifications in size were found (P > .05 for all variables). No variations in shape were observed. Sex had no significant effect for any variable (Student t for independent samples, P > .05). This study showed that in healthy subjects, hard tissue palatal morphology does not seem to change between the third and the fourth decades of life.

Adult↗

PubMed2002

Neuromuscular evaluation of post-orthodontic stability: an experimental protocol.

To prevent relapse after orthodontic treatment, retention is often considered indispensable. Soft tissues are thought to have a significant influence on dental movements. To quantify the influence of masticatory muscles on post-treatment relapse, and in an attempt to avoid unnecessary procedures, 2 male orthodontic patients (13 and 30 years old at debonding) were followed up. The patients completed 2 years of fixed orthodontic treatment and received no post-orthodontic retention. After 1 week and again after 6 months, alginate impressions of dental arches and a surface electromyographic (EMG) assessment of the masseter and temporalis muscles during maximum voluntary clenching were performed. The younger patient received surface EMG monitoring once a month for the first 6 months and at the 1-year follow-up appointment. Arch dimensions and the 3-dimensional inclination of the facial axis of the clinical crown (FACC) were measured using a computerized digitizer. Symmetry in muscular contraction was measured by the percentage overlapping coefficient (POC), and potential lateral displacing components were assessed by the torque coefficient (TC). At the 6-month follow-up, no clinical modifications were observed. Quantitative evaluation assessed that arch dimensions had changed slightly (up to 1 mm). While the adolescent patient had no modifications in FACC inclinations, the 30-year-old patient showed significant alterations (up to 18 degrees). In all examinations of the adolescent patient, POC was higher than 86% and TC was lower than 10%. In the adult, POC was inside the normal range, while all TCs were higher than 10.5%. The larger TC measured in the adult may explain the larger modifications in the 3-dimensional position of his dental crowns. In conclusion, a surface EMG assessment may help in the detection of patients who might need post-orthodontic retention.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2002

Elliptic Fourier analysis of facial profiles during growth and development.

The quantitative analysis of facial soft tissues is of overwhelming importance for orthodontic patients. To assess the normal age-related variations in shape, soft tissue facial profiles were studied in 96 healthy male children 3 to 11 years of age and 16 young men (age 18). Standardized left-side photographs were taken of each subject, and facial profiles were traced between trichion and cervical point. The line joining the 2 landmarks was set as the baseline, and each outline was automatically digitized and mathematically reconstructed by a 30-harmonic elliptic Fourier series expansion. The same soft tissue profile was traced and digitized from the Bolton standards of comparable age. All profiles were standardized to the same area, and shape modifications were quantified by calculating the morphologic distance between the Fourier reconstructions of each facial profile and of (1) the 18-year-old Bolton standard (MD-18) and (2) the age-related Bolton standard. Descriptive statistics were computed for each age class. On average, MD-18 was 7.23 at 3 years of age, increased between 6 and 9 years of age, and decreased hereafter, reaching 6.86 at 18 years of age. Within-group variability peaked at 8 years of age, and was minimal at 6 and 18 years of age. The current soft tissue child profiles seemed different from the profile obtained from the Bolton standards.

Adolescent↗

PubMedDate not supplied

The effect of polyamines and dialysate fluid on extracellular matrix synthesis in VERO cell cultures.

BACKGROUND: Polyamines are involved in normal and pathological cell proliferation and differentiation. Like acid radicals, they play an important role in remodelling the extracellular matrix and are considered "uremic toxins". Proteins and glycosaminoglycans are essential components of the extracellular matrix, and contribute to normal mature organ functions. The aim of this study was to analyse the effects of free polyamines, dialysate fluid components and dialysis fluid on protein and extracellular glycosaminoglycan synthesis in VERO cell cultures. METHODS: The dialysate fluid components were separated with a Sephadex G15 column and the cultures were analysed after incorporation of 3H-leucine and 3H-glucosamine. Cultures were run at pH 7.0 and pH 7.4. The glycosaminoglycan classes were separated with a DEAE column, and polyamines were determined by high-performance liquid chromatography. Proteins and single glycosaminoglycan classes were quantified by a scintillator. DNA gel electrophoresis was done to detect chromatin fragmentation. RESULTS: Dialysate contained putrescine, spermidine and spermine, chromatography showing four peaks; only peaks I and II indicated polyamines at respectively Da 5000 and 1500. Polyamines are therefore linked to different carriers. There was an increase of protein and glycosaminoglycan synthesis with dialysis fluid and polyamines, but inhibition with peak II or dialysate. DNA gel electrophoresis showed no chromatin fragmentation. Findings at pH 7.0 and 7.4 were similar. CONCLUSIONS: It would appear that in uremic patients polyamines are conjugated to protein carriers of different molecular weights with different biological actions. As polyamines and dialysis fluid affect changes in extracellular matrix, they could be related to physiological organ functions. However, these in vitro data must be considered with the appropriate limitations when we try to extrapolate them to the in vivo situation.

Animals↗