Craniofacial and dental characteristics of cartilage-hair hypoplasia.

The cranio-facial and dental features were studied by means of roentgencephalometry and anthropometry in 24 patients with cartilage-hair-hypoplasia. Data pertaining to the cranial base were considered indicative of subnormal growth in some of the cranial synchondroses. The width of the neurocranium was slightly below the values of the controls, whereas neurocranial length and circumference appeared unaffected. Facial height was larger than in the controls and facial index values were high. The chin was receding, but the other values of facial depth were relatively large. No abnormalities were observed in tooth morphology, dental age, or dental occlusion. The neurocranial morphology in CHH and achondroplasia show some similarities; the skull base, however, is clearly less bent in the CHH-syndrome. This, together with the virtually normal face and dentition in CHH-patients, is, perhaps, of differential diagnostic value.