Morphometric analysis of the cranial base in Asians

[Abstract] This study tested the hypothesis that developmental heterogeneity in cranial base morphology increases the prevalence of Class III malocclusion and mandibular prognathism in Asians. Thin-plate spline (TPS) graphical analysis of lateral cephalometric radiographs of the cranial base and the upper midface configuration were compared between a European-American group (24 females and 31 males) and four Asian ethnic groups (100 Chinese, 100 Japanese, 100 Korean and 100 Taiwanese; 50 females and 50 males per group) of young adults with clinically acceptable occlusion and facial profiles. Procrustes analysis was performed to identify statistically significant differences in each configuration of landmarks (P