Craniofacial Shape and Anatomical Changes Across the Human Lifespan: A Literature Review of Three Dimensional Morphometric Evidence
Keywords:
aging; craniofacial morphology; cranial morphology; facial morphology; lifespan; geometric morphometrics; morphometry; three-dimensional imagingAbstract
Background: Craniofacial morphology is a dynamic biological system that undergoes continuous changes from childhood to advanced adulthood, involving alterations in size, shape, proportions, spatial relationships, and surface configuration of the cranial vault, cranial base, midface, mandible, and facial soft tissues. Conventional two-dimensional anthropometry may inadequately capture the complex three-dimensional nature of craniofacial form. Three-dimensional imaging and morphometric techniques enable quantitative assessment of craniofacial changes across different stages of life. Objective: This literature review aims to synthesize three-dimensional morphometric evidence regarding changes in craniofacial shape, size, and anatomical relationships across the human lifespan and identify morphological patterns associated with age, sex, anatomical region, and imaging modality. Methods: A literature search was conducted in PubMed using a predefined Boolean strategy. Eligible studies included human research evaluating age-related craniofacial morphology using three-dimensional imaging or morphometric techniques, including CT and CBCT, with at least two age groups or age analyzed as a continuous variable. Data were extracted regarding population characteristics, sample size, age range, sex distribution, imaging modality, anatomical region, morphometric methods, landmarks or surface parameters, statistical analyses, and principal age-related findings. The review followed the PRISMA 2020 framework. Results: The initial PubMed search identified 71 records. After restricting the search to the last 10 years, 43 records remained. Following application of the free full-text filter, 26 articles were identified. Screening based on study population excluded non-human studies, resulting in 11 eligible studies included in the qualitative synthesis. Conclusion: Three-dimensional morphometric approaches provide a comprehensive framework for characterizing craniofacial changes across the human lifespan. Craniofacial aging involves multidimensional changes in size, shape, spatial relationships, and tissue distribution. Future research should emphasize longitudinal designs, standardized three-dimensional protocols, population-specific reference datasets, and integration of geometric morphometrics with automated computational methods.
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