Abnormal craniofacial growth.

Treatment of patients with craniofacial (CF) anomalies necessitates knowledge about normal CF growth and how it deviates in the abnormal state. There are different basic types of CF anomalies and various kinds of aberrations that influence CF development. These factors might help to explain why patients display growth variations. The effect of surgery on subsequent development is significant, but the heterogeneity among patients with regards to the morphology, etiology, and pathogenesis of the anomalies could also explain certain growth results. Roentgencephalometric findings related to CF growth in three different groups of anomalies are discussed.