Effectiveness of skull models and surgical simulation: comparison of outcome between different surgical techniques in patients with isolated brachycephaly.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to emphasize the importance of preoperative surgical planning using 3D skull models in craniosynostosis surgery.

Methods: By using 3D polymethyl methacrylate skull models manufactured using 3D tomography images, the authors previously showed that after fronto-parietal osteotomy, instead of fixing the fronto-parietal bone flap without rotation, angled advancement with horizontal osteotomy provides maximum increase in intracranial volume, in a bilateral coronal craniosynostosis model. After changing the operation technique using data gathered from previous studies, we reviewed two bilateral craniosynostosis patients operated with the new technique and compared it with two patients that were operated with the old technique.