A Qualitative Assessment of Bone Mineral Density in Individuals With Hemifacial Microsomia: A Cone-Beam Computed Tomography Study

Objective: The purpose of this study is to utilize cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) to compare the bone mineral density (BMD) on the affected versus nonaffected side, among individuals with hemifacial microsomia (HFM). Methods: This retrospective study included 9 patients with HFM. Pretreatment CBCT volumes were imported into Invivo5 software, which was used to measure BMD through Hounsfield units (HU) in 3 regions of the mandible; inferior to the lower lateral incisors, inferior to the first molar and at the ramus inferior to the sigmoid notch. Each region was measured at the buccal cortical bone, lingual cortical bone, and cancellous bone. The densities on the right and left sides were compared by Wilcoxon signed-rank test. Results: Overall, the BMD on the affected side tended to show slightly lower values when compared with the nonaffected side. Differences ranged from 14 HU at the lingual cortical plate of the first molar region to 234 HU at the buccal cortical plate of the ramus region. Differences were only statistically significant at the ramus region for the buccal ( P = .002) and lingual ( P < .001) cortical plates and at the lower incisor region at the buccal cortical plate ( P = .016) and cancellous bone ( P = .044). The differences, however, did not seem to be clinically significant. Conclusions: The current study shows that the quality of bone on the affected side may be slightly reduced but did not seem to be clinically significant. This should be accounted for during surgical and orthodontic planning for patients with HFM.