Regression models to predict cranial vault thickness for subadults: A computed tomography study

Correlations between cranial vault thickness (CVT) and age, sex, and ethnicity have been extensively researched. Still, the potential to utilize these biological parameters to estimate CVT in a clinical setting has yet to be explored. This study aimed to investigate the relationships between CVT and age, sex, and ethnicity and subsequently develop regression models of CVT for Malaysian subadults. Eighty-four multi-slice computed tomography (MSCT) cranial data of the Malaysian subadults were obtained from the University of Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC). Three-dimensional cranial models were constructed and analyzed using Materialise Mimics version 25.0 (Materialise NV, Leuven, Belgium). Then, measurements were taken at four sites of four cranial bones (frontal, occipital, and bilateral parietal bones). A strong positive correlation was obtained between CVT of all bones and age ( p < 0.05). However, no significant differences in CVT were found between sex and ethnicity ( p ≥ 0.05). In addition, four separate predictive models for each cranial bone were developed using multiple regression analyses. The findings suggest that age could be a predictor of CVT. Furthermore, the regression models may serve as a triage tool for estimating CVT in clinical applications such as cranial surgical planning, manufacturing of surgical screws, and craniofacial deformity assessment.