[Mid-facial distraction without osteotomy with a trans-facial pin. Report of 4 clinical cases].

After the publications of Mulhbaüer, Raposo do Amaral and mainly the one of Toth and Chin, it has been proved that midfacial distraction was an effective procedure for the treatment of cranio-facial dysostosis. First attempts to distract (in human) the midface without osteotomies has given poor results because devices acting on the zygomatic bone had failed to draw forward the maxilla through a thin maxillo-zygomatic suture which had been dislocated. With the help of a transfacial pin and an external device, we have obtained in four patients an important advancement of the maxilla. We report here the surgical procedure and preliminary results.