craniofacial morphometric measurements of children with celiac disease

Objectives:to examine the craniofacial morphologic features of children with celiac disease and to investigate the presence of specific features in this disease.methods:totally 100 celiac patients between the ages of 3 and 17 years who were diagnosed with celiac disease by biopsy and 100 healthy age and sexmatched children were included in the study. photographs of the children were taken using a slr digital camera by one and the same person at a natural head position. the parameters specified on the photograph were measured with imagej 1.50b software. twenty eight landmarks were identified on the photos. using these landmarks, 41 distances and 5 angles were measured. thirty eight anthropometric ratios were calculated.results:twenty seven distances, 1 angle and 9 ratios were determined shorter; 3 distances, 2 angles and 7 ratios were determined larger in patients with celiac disease compared with the healthy individuals. these differences were statistically significant.conclusions:there were significant alterations in some craniofacial morphometric parameters in children with celiac disease when compared with healthy controls. however, since the data is limited, a clear conclusion could not be achieved about a morphological feature directly associated with celiac disease in children. further prospective studies with longer followup periods are warranted to determine the effects of celiac disease on craniofacial morphological measurements.