What do the measurements mean?

[Guest guest]

My daughter has the Starband helmet and we are debating whether to stop using it

because she is down to a CVA of 2 mm, but I want to know what all her numbers

mean first so I can feel good about it. (I'm a big numbers person.) I'm not

going to pursue a perfect head, but I'd like to know what the values would be

for a perfect head.

So! Does anyone know what the following are (not just what the letters stand for

but what is it) and what would be ideal for each:

HT

AP

ML

CR (scan says .858. Is this mild brachy?)

RSI (scan says 16.4. orthos said ideal is 0, but what does it measure?)

Also, should the 'MIN' line on the scan be straight across the middle in a

perfect head?

Other than Diag 1 and 2 used to figure the CVA, these are the only measurements

we get on our scans. Should I ask the Ortho for the full report that I see

posted on here by others?

Thanks!

[Guest guest]

Hi,

For CR, 78-83 is considered normal for 6 to 12 month olds? Does anyone

know what is normal for an almost 24 months old? My son was measured

at 83.0. Most people seem to aim for low to mid 80's.

I believe RSI is some measure of asymmetry. I've read under 30 is

considered normal range. I doubt you will be able to get this to 0.

Others may be able to explain this number more.

Ideally, I believe the 'MIN' line would be straight. However, after

treating for 9 months in the Starband we've seen no real change in this

line. I believe there is a lot of error in this line and it would be

difficult to get this line to shift much. On the other hand, our MAX

line has shifted 13.5 degrees toward 0.

HT is a measure of how high the level 3 was measured on the scan.

Best,

Kathy

wrote:

My daughter has the Starband helmet and we are debating whether to

stop using it because she is down to a CVA of 2 mm, but I want to know

what all her numbers mean first so I can feel good about it. (I'm a big

numbers person.) I'm not going to pursue a perfect head, but I'd like

to know what the values would be for a perfect head.

So! Does anyone know what the following are (not just what the letters

stand for but what is it) and what would be ideal for each:

HT

AP

ML

CR (scan says .858. Is this mild brachy?)

RSI (scan says 16.4. orthos said ideal is 0, but what does it measure?)

Also, should the 'MIN' line on the scan be straight across the middle

in a perfect head?

Other than Diag 1 and 2 used to figure the CVA, these are the only

measurements we get on our scans. Should I ask the Ortho for the full

report that I see posted on here by others?

Thanks!

[Guest guest]

Here is an explanation for you:

HT – I never saw this on our STARscanner report

A-P is the Cranial Length

M-L - is the Cranial Breadth

CR is the Cephalic Ratio which is (M-L/A-P)

Cephalic Ratio (CR) = Cranial Breadth / Cranial Length. 

An ideal ratio would be 0.78 or 78%.  Brachycephaly Severity - normal - 73-83%;

moderate - 83.1% to 87.9%; severe - 88% and higher.  Scaphocephaly

Severity - normal - 73-83%; moderate - 68.1% to 72.9%; severe - 68% and below.

Radial Symmetry Index (RSI) = from the front of

the head, 15° segments are measured and added.  The addition of the right side

segments is subtracted to the addition of the left side segments. An ideal

ratio would be left side – right side = 0 (<30 mm normal)

Ideally on a perfect head, the MIN (minimum width of the

head) line would be horizontal and the MAX (maximum length of the head) would

be vertical.

The following are other measurements that are on the

STARscanner report:

•          Oblique Cranial Maximum and Minimum =

Ideally one is looking to have the maximum line vertical and the minimum line

horizontal. 

•          CVA - Oblique at 30 deg (US1 and US2) =

Length of diagonal taken at 30° on each side (30° corresponds to the corner of

the eye).  The subtraction of US1 and US2 gives an indication of the asymmetry

of the head.  An asymmetry between 0-3 mm is normal; <6 mm is very

mild; 6-10 mm is mild; 10-15 mm is moderate; 15+ mm is severe

•          Q1, Q2, Q3, Q4 volumes: Draws vertical

and horizontal lines centered on middle point of head.  Measures volume of each

corner starting front left, then front right, back right and back left.

•          Anterior Symmetry Ratio: looks at front

of head and divides front left volume with front right volume.  An ideal ratio

would be 1

•          Posterior Symmetry Ratio: looks at back

of head and divides back right volume with back left volume.  An ideal ration

would be 1

•          Overall Symmetry Ratio: Divides left

side with right side.  An ideal ratio would be 1

•          Upper facial left and upper facial

right: Measures the length between the centre of the front to each left and

right ear.  This corresponds to a cranial bone and determines the position of

the ear.

•          Upper Facial Symmetry Ratio: Divides

Upper Facial Right with Upper Facial Left. An ideal ratio would be 1

•          Cranial Vault Asymmetry Index (CVAI): 

the percentage difference in plagio, (100%-(US1/US2)).  0-3 mm normal

Hope this helps!

Molly

Novato, California

Nicolas, 4, tort & plagio, STARband (CIRS Oakland)

4/24/06-9/12/06, Graduate!

, 7

, 10

What do the measurements mean?

My daughter has the Starband helmet and we are debating

whether to stop using it because she is down to a CVA of 2 mm, but I want to

know what all her numbers mean first so I can feel good about it. (I'm a big

numbers person.) I'm not going to pursue a perfect head, but I'd like to know

what the values would be for a perfect head.

So! Does anyone know what the following are (not just

what the letters stand for but what is it) and what would be ideal for each:

HT

AP

ML

CR  (scan says .858. Is this mild brachy?)

RSI (scan says 16.4. orthos said ideal is 0, but what

does it measure?)

Also, should the 'MIN' line on the scan be straight

across the middle in a perfect head?

Other than Diag 1 and 2 used to figure the CVA, these are

the only measurements we get on our scans. Should I ask the Ortho for the full

report that I see posted on here by others?

Thanks!

------------------------------------

For more plagio info

[Guest guest]

Thanks! My understanding is HT indicates how high the measurements are

being taken from some reference point. So, perhaps this number is only

useful if you are comparing scans. The HT should be close to the same

for the scans being compared. I could be wrong though.

Does the CR decrease naturally as the baby ages? Does anyone know if

83 is still considered normal for an older toddler? It does not

really matter, but I like to think of 's brachy measurement as

being within normal range. :|)

-Kathy, mom to 21 months, treated since 12 months for plagio

Foley, Molly wrote:

Here is an explanation for you:

HT – I never saw this on our STARscanner

report

A-P is the Cranial Length

M-L - is the Cranial Breadth

CR is the Cephalic Ratio which is (M-L/A-P)

Cephalic Ratio (CR) = Cranial Breadth /

Cranial Length.

An ideal ratio would be 0.78 or 78%. Brachycephaly Severity - normal -

73-83%;

moderate - 83.1% to 87.9%; severe - 88% and higher.

Scaphocephaly

Severity - normal - 73-83%; moderate - 68.1% to 72.9%; severe - 68% and

below.

Radial Symmetry Index (RSI) = from the

front of

the head, 15° segments are measured and added. The addition of the

right side

segments is subtracted to the addition of the left side segments. An

ideal

ratio would be left side – right side = 0 (<30 mm normal)

Ideally on a perfect head, the MIN (minimum

width of the

head) line would be horizontal and the MAX (maximum length of the head)

would

be vertical.

The following are other measurements that are

on the

STARscanner report:

• Oblique Cranial Maximum and

Minimum =

Ideally one is looking to have the maximum line vertical and the

minimum line

horizontal.

• CVA - Oblique at 30 deg (US1 and

US2) =

Length of diagonal taken at 30° on each side (30° corresponds to the

corner of

the eye). The subtraction of US1 and US2 gives an indication of the

asymmetry

of the head. An asymmetry between 0-3 mm is normal; <6 mm

is very

mild; 6-10 mm is mild; 10-15 mm is moderate; 15+ mm is severe

• Q1, Q2, Q3, Q4 volumes: Draws

vertical

and horizontal lines centered on middle point of head. Measures volume

of each

corner starting front left, then front right, back right and back left.

• Anterior Symmetry Ratio: looks at

front

of head and divides front left volume with front right volume. An

ideal ratio

would be 1

• Posterior Symmetry Ratio: looks at

back

of head and divides back right volume with back left volume. An ideal

ration

would be 1

• Overall Symmetry Ratio: Divides

left

side with right side. An ideal ratio would be 1

• Upper facial left and upper facial

right: Measures the length between the centre of the front to each left

and

right ear. This corresponds to a cranial bone and determines the

position of

the ear.

• Upper Facial Symmetry Ratio:

Divides

Upper Facial Right with Upper Facial Left. An ideal ratio would be 1

• Cranial Vault Asymmetry Index

(CVAI):

the percentage difference in plagio, (100%-(US1/US2)). 0-3 mm

normal

Hope this helps!

Molly

Novato, California

Nicolas, 4, tort & plagio, STARband (CIRS Oakland)

4/24/06-9/12/06, Graduate!

, 7

, 10

What do the measurements mean?

My daughter has the Starband helmet and we

are debating

whether to stop using it because she is down to a CVA of 2 mm, but I

want to

know what all her numbers mean first so I can feel good about it. (I'm

a big

numbers person.) I'm not going to pursue a perfect head, but I'd like

to know

what the values would be for a perfect head.

So! Does anyone know what the following are

(not just

what the letters stand for but what is it) and what would be ideal for

each:

HT

AP

ML

CR (scan says .858. Is this mild brachy?)

RSI (scan says 16.4. orthos said ideal is 0,

but what

does it measure?)

Also, should the 'MIN' line on the scan be

straight

across the middle in a perfect head?

Other than Diag 1 and 2 used to figure the

CVA, these are

the only measurements we get on our scans. Should I ask the Ortho for

the full

report that I see posted on here by others?

Thanks!

------------------------------------

For more plagio info

[Guest guest]

So, it looks like my daughter has some measure of brachy. So why did the ortho

never mention it? How is it treated? We only ever looked at the CVA. Can we use

the same helmet and should we continue to try to fix the brachy?

I'm SO glad for all the responses but more confused than ever.

> >

> >

> > My daughter has the Starband helmet and we are debating whether to

> > stop using it because she is down to a CVA of 2 mm, but I want to know

> > what all her numbers mean first so I can feel good about it. (I'm a

> > big numbers person.) I'm not going to pursue a perfect head, but I'd

> > like to know what the values would be for a perfect head.

> >

> > So! Does anyone know what the following are (not just what the letters

> > stand for but what is it) and what would be ideal for each:

> > HT

> > AP

> > ML

> > CR (scan says .858. Is this mild brachy?)

> > RSI (scan says 16.4. orthos said ideal is 0, but what does it measure?)

> >

> > Also, should the 'MIN' line on the scan be straight across the middle

> > in a perfect head?

> >

> > Other than Diag 1 and 2 used to figure the CVA, these are the only

> > measurements we get on our scans. Should I ask the Ortho for the full

> > report that I see posted on here by others?

> >

> > Thanks!

> >

> >

> >

>

[Guest guest]

Hi,

How old is your daughter? How long has she worn the helmet? What

asymmetry and brachy measurements did you start with? Has the brachy

measurement gone down since starting?

Our ortho never mentioned the brachy either and we started at 86.7. I

assume he didn't mention the brachy since the plagio was more of a

concern. In my opinion, plagio looks worse than a tiny bit of brachy.

So, many babies have a little brachy these days with the SIDS campaign

and the numbers have not been adjusted accordingly. So, a CR of 86 is

not that bad and there are moms on this group who would love to get

that low.

I think it is perfectly reasonable though to want to get your

daughter's brachy measurement a little lower. For my son, the CR

dropped in his Starband even though our focus was the plagio. So, I

would think you should be able to use the same helmet a bit longer to

work on the brachy. I would compare your original scan with the latest

to see whether the helmet is helping with the brachy measurement. Our

brachy measurement dropped about an average of 1% every 3 months in our

Starband since age 12 months. You may want to discuss this with the

ortho.

There are other reasons I can think of to continue helmet usage. If

your daughter is still really young, I would keep the helmet a bit

longer to prevent regression. Also, more important than the numbers is

the visual appearance. We are keeping the helmet because there is

still some plagio up higher that is not captured in the level 3

measurements.

Best,

Kathy, mom to 21 months

wrote:

So, it looks like my daughter has some measure of brachy. So why

did the ortho never mention it? How is it treated? We only ever looked

at the CVA. Can we use the same helmet and should we continue to try to

fix the brachy?

I'm SO glad for all the responses but more confused than ever.

> >

> >

> > My daughter has the Starband helmet and we are debating

whether to

> > stop using it because she is down to a CVA of 2 mm, but I

want to know

> > what all her numbers mean first so I can feel good about it.

(I'm a

> > big numbers person.) I'm not going to pursue a perfect head,

but I'd

> > like to know what the values would be for a perfect head.

> >

> > So! Does anyone know what the following are (not just what

the letters

> > stand for but what is it) and what would be ideal for each:

> > HT

> > AP

> > ML

> > CR (scan says .858. Is this mild brachy?)

> > RSI (scan says 16.4. orthos said ideal is 0, but what does it

measure?)

> >

> > Also, should the 'MIN' line on the scan be straight across

the middle

> > in a perfect head?

> >

> > Other than Diag 1 and 2 used to figure the CVA, these are the

only

> > measurements we get on our scans. Should I ask the Ortho for

the full

> > report that I see posted on here by others?

> >

> > Thanks!

> >

> >

> >

>

[Guest guest]

Sophie will be 8 months old on the 17th. We started very mild on plagio with a CVA of 5.4 and a CR of 87.3%. The CR trend is 87.3% ->86.3% ->85.6% ->86.3% ->86% ->85.8%. It appears the measure was actually lowest on January 5th. Since then, looking at the scans there has been almost no growth along the breadth of her head.

The CR trend doesn't make a lot of sense to me, so I'm wondering if the flat area where the baby lays on the scanner is skewing the AP number. All the scans are at level 3.

As far as how she looks, her head is wider in the middle, but I don't know if it looks too broad. All babies heads kind of look like alien heads to me

So, the helmet has been off all day today and I've had a chance to really look at her for the first time since she started wearing it. In my opinion, she still has a flat spot on the back of her head, though higher up than level 3, I still see bossing above her right eye, and her ears seem way off. I have never been given any measure for her ear alignment.

So here is what I'm thinking. Call the Ortho to see if she can fax me a copy of the entire STARscan report that includes ear alignment, etc. Do the helmet just at night. And go in as soon as I can for a new scan. My Ortho is 2 hours away, one way, which is no problem, but its so iffy if I can get Sophie to lay still in the scanner during my appt time. Does anyone have any advise for that? I feel like I drive all the way down there and its not certain we'll get a good read on the scanner.

So, it looks like my daughter has some measure of brachy. So why did the ortho never mention it? How is it treated? We only ever looked at the CVA. Can we use the same helmet and should we continue to try to fix the brachy?I'm SO glad for all the responses but more confused than ever.> > > >> > My daughter has the Starband helmet and we are debating whether to > > stop using it because she is down to a CVA of 2 mm, but I want to know > > what all her numbers mean first so I can feel good about it. (I'm a > > big numbers person.) I'm not

going to pursue a perfect head, but I'd > > like to know what the values would be for a perfect head.> >> > So! Does anyone know what the following are (not just what the letters > > stand for but what is it) and what would be ideal for each:> > HT> > AP> > ML> > CR (scan says .858. Is this mild brachy?)> > RSI (scan says 16.4. orthos said ideal is 0, but what does it measure?)> >> > Also, should the 'MIN' line on the scan be straight across the middle > > in a perfect head?> >> > Other than Diag 1 and 2 used to figure the CVA, these are the only > > measurements we get on our scans. Should I ask the Ortho for the full > > report that I see posted on here by others?> >> > Thanks!> > > >>

>>

[Guest guest]

,

Those brachy numbers do not seem to be universally accepted because they are so old. I have heard other interpretations of what the brachy numbers mean. It seems that every source has a different interpretation. For example, my ortho says that anything under 91 is normal. I know that the numbers that Molly posted come from a study completed in the 1970s and are accepted by some insruance companies as the standard, but I've also seen someone else post that they were told that the current new average is 84 percent. I'm not sure where that number came from. The bottom line is that anything in the middle 80's is okay and would not be treated with a helmet. The general standard in the industry is to band for anything over 90 percent. So, I really wouldn't worry about your number. In terms of brachy heads, I wouldn't even count it as such. There are some of us whose babies graduated in the low 90's. And yes, I would have liked more correction, but if I had gotten below 90, I would have been happy and been ready to move on.

If you use the numbers that Molly posted, then I'm guessing that 75 percent of all babies today would have some form of brachy. Even those past numbers use a standard of one standard deviation instead of two. That would mean that 16 percent of all babies back then would have been described as having some form of brachy. With a standard of two standard deviations, it would only be 2.5 percent. In many fields (including mine), something is not considered significant unless it is two standard deviations away from the average.

There are also differences in the statistics for boys and girls, with the numbers for boys allow for greater width. So, Molly's numbers appear to use the standard deviations for girls rather than boys. For boys, the two standard deviation was approximately 91 percent and for girls it was approximately 88 percent. It appears to me that my ortho used the standard of 2 SD for boys to judge whether the head was in the normal range.

So, in other words, unless that starting brachy number was much higher than it is now, there would be no reason for it to be a focus of treatment. In addition, the current CVA of 2 is within the normal range and would therefore no longer be considered plagio. They are similar to my daughter's starting scan and the ortho said that she did not have plagio, but only had brachy. In other words, your baby's head seems to be in great shape at the latest scan and you should be happy to have such good numbers. The only reason to continue the helmet might be to avoid regression. Do you still see problems with the head or does it look pretty good to you? sometimes the numbers don't tell the whole story. However, it is likely that continued use will only produce minimal change since the head is so close to being perfect right now.

I just thought I'd give you another perspective on all of this.

, mom to , 2.5 years

STARband grad May 2009

Chiro and CST

land Re: What do the measurements mean?

So, it looks like my daughter has some measure of brachy. So why did the ortho never mention it? How is it treated? We only ever looked at the CVA. Can we use the same helmet and should we continue to try to fix the brachy?I'm SO glad for all the responses but more confused than ever.> > > >> > My daughter has the Starband helmet and we are debating whether to > > stop using it because she is down to a CVA of 2 mm, but I want to know > > what all her numbers mean first so I can feel good about it. (I'm a > > big numbers person.) I'm not going to pursue a perfect head, but I'd > > like to know what the values would be for a perfect head.> >> > So! Does anyone know what the following are (not just what the letters > > stand for but what is it) and what would be ideal for each:> > HT> > AP> > ML> > CR (scan says .858. Is this mild brachy?)> > RSI (scan says 16.4. orthos said ideal is 0, but what does it measure?)> >> > Also, should the 'MIN' line on the scan be straight across the middle > > in a perfect head?> >> > Other than Diag 1 and 2 used to figure the CVA, these are the only > > measurements we get on our scans. Should I ask the Ortho for the full > > report that I see posted on here by others?> >> > Thanks!> > > >> >>

[Guest guest]

Hi ,

Thank you so much for all the information. I know I'm very lucky Sophie is so minimal, but I'm one of those cases without Tort who feel is was all just my fault so I do obsess a bit more than I should. I'll see what the Ortho says -- I bet just what you said -- and let you know. She has her hands full with me as a patient

From: <melanie.watson@...>Subject: Re: What do the measurements mean?Plagiocephaly Date: Saturday, March 6, 2010, 11:23 AM

,

Those brachy numbers do not seem to be universally accepted because they are so old. I have heard other interpretations of what the brachy numbers mean. It seems that every source has a different interpretation. For example, my ortho says that anything under 91 is normal. I know that the numbers that Molly posted come from a study completed in the 1970s and are accepted by some insruance companies as the standard, but I've also seen someone else post that they were told that the current new average is 84 percent. I'm not sure where that number came from. The bottom line is that anything in the middle 80's is okay and would not be treated with a helmet. The general standard in the industry is to band for anything over 90 percent. So, I really wouldn't worry about your number. In terms of brachy heads, I wouldn't even count it as such. There are some of us whose babies graduated in the

low 90's. And yes, I would have liked more correction, but if I had gotten below 90, I would have been happy and been ready to move on.

If you use the numbers that Molly posted, then I'm guessing that 75 percent of all babies today would have some form of brachy. Even those past numbers use a standard of one standard deviation instead of two. That would mean that 16 percent of all babies back then would have been described as having some form of brachy. With a standard of two standard deviations, it would only be 2.5 percent. In many fields (including mine), something is not considered significant unless it is two standard deviations away from the average.

There are also differences in the statistics for boys and girls, with the numbers for boys allow for greater width. So, Molly's numbers appear to use the standard deviations for girls rather than boys. For boys, the two standard deviation was approximately 91 percent and for girls it was approximately 88 percent. It appears to me that my ortho used the standard of 2 SD for boys to judge whether the head was in the normal range.

So, in other words, unless that starting brachy number was much higher than it is now, there would be no reason for it to be a focus of treatment. In addition, the current CVA of 2 is within the normal range and would therefore no longer be considered plagio. They are similar to my daughter's starting scan and the ortho said that she did not have plagio, but only had brachy. In other words, your baby's head seems to be in great shape at the latest scan and you should be happy to have such good numbers. The only reason to continue the helmet might be to avoid regression. Do you still see problems with the head or does it look pretty good to you? sometimes the numbers don't tell the whole story. However, it is likely that continued use will only produce minimal change since the head is so close to being perfect right now.

I just thought I'd give you another perspective on all of this.

, mom to , 2.5 years

STARband grad May 2009

Chiro and CST

land Re: What do the measurements mean?

So, it looks like my daughter has some measure of brachy. So why did the ortho never mention it? How is it treated? We only ever looked at the CVA. Can we use the same helmet and should we continue to try to fix the brachy?I'm SO glad for all the responses but more confused than ever.> > > >> > My daughter has the Starband helmet and we are debating whether to > > stop using it because she is down to a CVA of 2 mm, but I want to know > > what all her numbers mean first so I can feel good about it. (I'm a > > big numbers person.) I'm not

going to pursue a perfect head, but I'd > > like to know what the values would be for a perfect head.> >> > So! Does anyone know what the following are (not just what the letters > > stand for but what is it) and what would be ideal for each:> > HT> > AP> > ML> > CR (scan says .858. Is this mild brachy?)> > RSI (scan says 16.4. orthos said ideal is 0, but what does it measure?)> >> > Also, should the 'MIN' line on the scan be straight across the middle > > in a perfect head?> >> > Other than Diag 1 and 2 used to figure the CVA, these are the only > > measurements we get on our scans. Should I ask the Ortho for the full > > report that I see posted on here by others?> >> > Thanks!> > > >> >>

[Guest guest]

Hi,

I've noticed that with 83.0, 's head has less brachy than many of

the kids in his daycare class of 12 kids.   is right that with

the 78 to 83 standard a large percentage of kids would be diagnosed

with brachy today.  Although since you already have a helmet, I do not

see any harm in continuing if you decide to. 

I think for plagio, 's head is still about tied for worse even

though we are down to 2mm at level 3.   We are at 3.6mm at level 5 and

I believe the worse area is higher than this.  

Good luck,

Kathy, mom to 21 months

wrote:

 

,

 

Those

brachy numbers do not seem to be universally accepted because they are

so old. I have heard other interpretations of what the brachy numbers

mean. It seems that every source has a different interpretation. For

example, my ortho says that anything under 91 is normal.  I know that

the numbers that Molly posted come from a study completed in the 1970s

and are accepted by some insruance companies as the standard, but I've

also seen someone else post that they were told that the current new

average is 84 percent. I'm not sure where that number came from. The

bottom line is that anything in the middle 80's is okay and would not

be treated with a helmet. The general standard in the industry is to

band for anything over 90 percent. So, I really wouldn't worry about

your number. In terms of brachy heads, I wouldn't even count it as

such. There are some of us whose babies graduated in the low 90's. And

yes, I would have liked more correction, but if I had gotten below 90,

I would have been happy and been ready to move on.

 

If

you use the numbers that Molly posted, then I'm guessing that 75

percent of all babies today would have some form of brachy. Even those

past numbers use a standard of one standard deviation instead of two.

That would mean that 16 percent of all babies back then would have been

described as having some form of brachy. With a standard of two

standard deviations, it would only be 2.5 percent. In many fields

(including mine), something is not considered significant unless it is

two standard deviations away from the average.

 

There

are also differences in the statistics for boys and girls, with the

numbers for boys allow for greater width. So, Molly's numbers appear to

use the standard deviations for girls rather than boys. For boys, the

two standard deviation was approximately 91 percent and for girls it

was approximately 88 percent. It appears to me that my ortho used the

standard of 2 SD for boys to judge whether the head was in the normal

range.

 

So, in other words, unless that starting brachy number was much

higher than it is now, there would be no reason for it to be a focus of

treatment. In addition, the current CVA of 2 is within the normal range

and would therefore no longer be considered plagio. They are similar to

my daughter's starting scan and the ortho said that she did not have

plagio, but only had brachy. In other words, your baby's head seems to

be in great shape at the latest scan and you should be happy to have

such good numbers. The only reason to continue the helmet might be to

avoid regression. Do you still see problems with the head or does it

look pretty good to you? sometimes the numbers don't tell the whole

story. However, it is likely that continued use will only produce

minimal change since the head is so close to being perfect right now.

 

I just thought I'd give you another perspective on all of this.

 

 

,

mom to , 2.5 years

STARband

grad May 2009

Chiro

and CST

land

Re: What do the measurements mean?

 

So, it looks like my daughter has some measure of brachy. So why

did the ortho never mention it? How is it treated? We only ever looked

at the CVA. Can we use the same helmet and should we continue to try to

fix the brachy?

I'm SO glad for all the responses but more confused than ever.

> >

> >

> > My daughter has the Starband helmet and we are debating

whether to

> > stop using it because she is down to a CVA of 2 mm, but I

want to know

> > what all her numbers mean first so I can feel good about it.

(I'm a

> > big numbers person.) I'm not going to pursue a perfect head,

but I'd

> > like to know what the values would be for a perfect head.

> >

> > So! Does anyone know what the following are (not just what

the letters

> > stand for but what is it) and what would be ideal for each:

> > HT

> > AP

> > ML

> > CR (scan says .858. Is this mild brachy?)

> > RSI (scan says 16.4. orthos said ideal is 0, but what does it

measure?)

> >

> > Also, should the 'MIN' line on the scan be straight across

the middle

> > in a perfect head?

> >

> > Other than Diag 1 and 2 used to figure the CVA, these are the

only

> > measurements we get on our scans. Should I ask the Ortho for

the full

> > report that I see posted on here by others?

> >

> > Thanks!

> >

> >

> >

>

[Guest guest]

Hi,

Those numbers for CR are normal variation that you would expect from

measurement error.  If it was bouncing around more than say about 1%, I

would expect a not so good scan.  However, I think you could easily get

this much error from relative good scans.  gets some swelling in

his forehead that decreases the CR a tiny amount and this swelling

varies.  We've had an increase in CR of 1% in scans almost 6 weeks

apart, and we all figured that was normal measurement error.  What you

want to look for is a downward trend and I see that, but slowly. 

's trend is even more slow since he is older.

If you are unsure about stopping the helmet, I would keep wearing it

full time and return for your regularly scheduled scan.  There was some

discussion on this group about part-time wear and I don't think it is

the best.  Once you have the next scan in a few weeks, you and the

ortho can discuss what to do.

Your measurements are fairly good and lots of babies have a little flat

area up high.  Is it more than most babies?  I would be bothered by the

ears being way off and forehead bossing.  has a very, very tiny

forehead bossing and I keep hoping it is the swelling, but if not there

won't be anything we can do about it. :|(

This is just my suggestion.

Best,

Kathy, mom to 21 months, treated since 12 months

J. Convex wrote:

 

Sophie will be 8 months old on the 17th. We started very

mild on plagio with a CVA of 5.4 and a CR of 87.3%. The CR trend is

87.3% ->86.3% ->85.6% ->86.3% ->86% ->85.8%. It appears

the measure was actually lowest on January 5th. Since then, looking at

the scans there has been almost no growth along the breadth of her head.

 

The CR trend doesn't make a lot of sense to me, so I'm

wondering if the flat area where the baby lays on the scanner is

skewing the AP number.  All the scans are at level 3.

 

As far as how she looks, her head is wider in the middle,

but I don't know if it looks too broad. All babies heads kind of look

like alien heads to me

 

So, the helmet has been off all day today and I've had a

chance to really look at her for the first time since she started

wearing it. In my opinion, she still has a flat spot on the back of her

head, though higher up than level 3, I still see bossing above her

right eye, and her ears seem way off. I have never been given any

measure for her ear alignment.

 

So here is what I'm thinking. Call the Ortho to see if she

can fax me a copy of the entire STARscan report that includes ear

alignment, etc. Do the helmet just at night. And go in as soon as I can

for a new scan. My Ortho is 2 hours away, one way, which is no problem,

but its so iffy if I can get Sophie to lay still in the scanner during

my appt time. Does anyone have any advise for that? I feel like I drive

all the way down there and its not certain we'll get a good read on the

scanner.

 

 

So, it looks like my daughter has some measure of

brachy. So why did the ortho never mention it? How is it treated? We

only ever looked at the CVA. Can we use the same helmet and should we

continue to try to fix the brachy?

I'm SO glad for all the responses but more confused than ever.

> >

> >

> > My daughter has the Starband helmet and we are debating

whether to

> > stop using it because she is down to a CVA of 2 mm, but I

want to know

> > what all her numbers mean first so I can feel good about it.

(I'm a

> > big numbers person.) I'm not going to pursue a perfect head,

but I'd

> > like to know what the values would be for a perfect head.

> >

> > So! Does anyone know what the following are (not just what

the letters

> > stand for but what is it) and what would be ideal for each:

> > HT

> > AP

> > ML

> > CR (scan says .858. Is this mild brachy?)

> > RSI (scan says 16.4. orthos said ideal is 0, but what does it

measure?)

> >

> > Also, should the 'MIN' line on the scan be straight across

the middle

> > in a perfect head?

> >

> > Other than Diag 1 and 2 used to figure the CVA, these are the

only

> > measurements we get on our scans. Should I ask the Ortho for

the full

> > report that I see posted on here by others?

> >

> > Thanks!

> >

> >

> >

>