Craniofacial morphology in complete unilateral cleft lip and palate patients consecutively treated with 1-stage repair of the cleft.

OBJECTIVE

To retrospectively evaluate the craniofacial morphology of children with a complete unilateral cleft lip and palate treated with a 1-stage simultaneous cleft repair performed in the first year of life.

METHODS

Cephalograms and extraoral profile photographs of 61 consecutively treated patients (42 boys, 19 girls) who had been operated on at 9.2 (SD, 2.0) months by a single experienced surgeon were analyzed at 11.4 (SD, 1.5) years. The noncleft control group comprised 81 children (43 boys and 38 girls) of the same ethnicity at the age of 10.4 (SD, 0.5) years.

RESULTS

In children with cleft, the maxilla and mandible were retrusive; the palatal and mandibular planes were more open, and sagittal maxillomandibular relationship was less favorable in comparison to noncleft control subjects. Soft tissues in patients with cleft reflected retrusive morphology of hard tissues--subnasal and supramental regions were less convex, profile was flatter, and nasolabial angle was more acute relative to those of the control subjects.

CONCLUSIONS

Craniofacial morphology after 1-stage repair was deviated in comparison with noncleft control subjects. However, the degree of deviation was comparable with that found after treatment with alternative surgical protocols.