Craniosynostosis
| Purpose | Identify premature closure of cranial sutures |
| Tag(s) |
|
| Panel | Pediatric Panel |
| Define-AI ID | 19010006 |
| Originator | Neil Lall |
| Lead | Neil Lall |
| Panel Chair | Matt Hawkins |
| Panel Reviewers | Pediatric Panel |
| License | Creative Commons 4.0 |
| Status | Public Commenting |
| RadElement Set | RDES92 |
Clinical Implementation
Value Proposition
Craniosynostosis is a premature closure of the cranial sutures, with resulting deformity of the skull which can result in cosmetic issues and increased intracranial pressure. Early identification and cranioplasty can often alleviate these issues; however, identification of premature fusion can be difficult due to the differing milestones of normal sutural fusion for the multiple sutures. An algorithm meeting this use case will identify premature sutural fusion and abnormal sutural ridging. This automated detection will improve radiologists’ ability to focus on identifying possible sequelae of craniosynostosis and associated abnormalities as seen in syndromic conditions.Narrative(s)
An infant presents with an abnormal head shape; the physician wants to ensure that this is related to positional flattening of the skull and not an underlying abnormal sutural fusion.Workflow Description
A CT is performed and sent to PACS and the AI engine. The algorithm is triggered automatically by a head CT. The craniosynostosis algorithm returns an identification of any sutures that are prematurely closed or have associated ridging.Considerations for Dataset Development
| Procedures(s) | {CT Head of the skull} |
| View(s) | All |
| Sex at Birth | {Male, Female} |
| Age | [0,4] |
Technical Specifications
Inputs
DICOM Study
| Procedure | Head CT |
| Views | All |
| Data Type | DICOM |
| Modality | CT |
| Body Region | Head |
| Anatomic Focus | Skull |
Patient Age
| Data Type | Numeric |
Primary Outputs
Metopic
| RadElement ID | RDE552 |
| Definition | Status of the midline frontal (metopic) suture |
| Data Type | Categorical |
| Value Set | 0 - Undetermined 1 - Open, normal for age 2 - Closed, normal for age 3 - Open, abnormal for age 4 - Closed, abnormal for age 5 - Closed with ridging |
| Units | N/A |
Sagittal
| RadElement ID | RDE553 |
| Definition | Status of the midline sagittal suture |
| Data Type | Categorical |
| Value Set | 0 - Undetermined 1 - Open, normal for age 2 - Closed, normal for age 3 - Open, abnormal for age 4 - Closed, abnormal for age 5 - Closed with ridging |
| Units | N/A |
Right Coronal
| RadElement ID | RDE554 |
| Definition | Status of the right coronal suture |
| Data Type | Categorical |
| Value Set | 0 - Undetermined 1 - Open, normal for age 2 - Closed, normal for age 3 - Open, abnormal for age 4 - Closed, abnormal for age 5 - Closed with ridging |
| Units | N/A |
Left Coronal
| RadElement ID | RDE555 |
| Definition | Status of the left coronal suture |
| Data Type | Categorical |
| Value Set | 0 - Undetermined 1 - Open, normal for age 2 - Closed, normal for age 3 - Open, abnormal for age 4 - Closed, abnormal for age 5 - Closed with ridging |
| Units | N/A |
Right Lambdoid
| RadElement ID | RDE551 |
| Definition | Status of the right lambdoid suture |
| Data Type | Categorical |
| Value Set | 0 - Undetermined 1 - Open, normal for age 2 - Closed, normal for age 3 - Open, abnormal for age 4 - Closed, abnormal for age 5 - Closed with ridging |
| Units | N/A |
Left Lambdoid
| RadElement ID | RDE556 |
| Definition | Status of the left lambdoid suture |
| Data Type | Categorical |
| Value Set | 0 - Undetermined 1 - Open, normal for age 2 - Closed, normal for age 3 - Open, abnormal for age 4 - Closed, abnormal for age 5 - Closed with ridging |
| Units | N/A |
Right Squamosal
| RadElement ID | RDE557 |
| Definition | Status of the right squamosal/temporosquamosal suture |
| Data Type | Categorical |
| Value Set | 0 - Undetermined 1 - Open, normal for age 2 - Closed, normal for age 3 - Open, abnormal for age 4 - Closed, abnormal for age 5 - Closed with ridging |
| Units | N/A |
Left Squamosal
| RadElement ID | RDE558 |
| Definition | Status of the left squamosal/temporosquamosal suture |
| Data Type | Categorical |
| Value Set | 0 - Undetermined 1 - Open, normal for age 2 - Closed, normal for age 3 - Open, abnormal for age 4 - Closed, abnormal for age 5 - Closed with ridging |
| Units | N/A |
Secondary Outputs
Wormian bones
| RadElement ID | RDE559 |
| Definition | Presence of wormian bones |
| Data Type | Categorical |
| Value Set | 0 - absent 1 - 1-10 wormian bones present (within normal limits) 2 - more than 10 wormian bones (abnormal) 3- Unknown |
| Units | N/A |
Future Development Ideas
-
Identification of normal sutures (and normal variant accessory sutures) for patient age can be useful in distinguishing them from fractures.
-
Identification of sutures on radiographs would be very useful to help in looking for craniosynostosis (as well as distinguishing from fractures).
-
other secondary findings such as orbital shape (e.g. harlequin orbit) or overall skull morphology would be useful to highlight to assist with more equivocal cases.
-
While MRI is not the common method for such evaluations, a reliable method of assessment on MRI would be beneficial in allowing it to be used for these cases.
Related Datasets
No known related public datasets at this time, please alert us if you know of any.