Sella Turcica Morphology in Patients With Genetic Syndromes: Protocol for a Systematic Review.

Background: The sella turcica is an important anatomical reference used in orthodontics and the evaluation of craniofacial growth. Studies have found an association between variations in sella turcica morphology in patients with certain syndromes affecting the craniofacial complex. It is hypothesized that each related syndrome or pathological condition is associated with a specific pattern of malformation of the sella turcica.

Objective: This study outlines the protocol for a systematic review that aims to determine if genetic syndromes involving the craniofacial complex are associated with abnormal radiographic sella turcica morphology and if there is a pattern of malformation that is consistent with each syndrome.

Methods: An electronic database search was conducted using a planned search strategy to identify relevant studies. We included primary studies evaluating the morphology of the sella turcica based on imaging from a lateral view. Specifically, only studies with postnatal human participants with genetic syndromes involving the craniofacial complex were included in this review. We placed no restrictions on the language or time frame of these studies. Based on the search findings, studies were further screened for relevance and eligibility by two independent reviewers. Data were extracted from the selected studies. We assessed the selected studies for risk of bias and quality by using risk of bias tools from the Joanna Briggs Institute. We will provide a narrative synthesis of our findings and a structured summary based on prespecified themes.

Results: The protocol is registered with PROSPERO (#CRD42019148060) and approved by the University of Western Cape Biomedical Science Research Ethics Committee (BM205/3). The literature search was conducted in September 2019 and updated in July 2020. The study was completed in August 2020, and the findings will be published in an open-access journal.

Conclusions: The results of this systematic review are expected to provide a comprehensive list of morphological variations of the sella turcica, which will aid in the identification of syndromes associated with the craniofacial complex. We also expect to identify patterns of sella turcica morphology that highlight genotype-phenotype correlations, thus adding to the body of evidence relating to genetics and craniofacial malformations.

Trial Registration: PROSPERO International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews CRD42019148060; https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?RecordID=148060.

International Registered Report Identifier (irrid): RR1-10.2196/16633.