Hypertelorism correction in the young child.

This series reports on 20 patients who underwent orbital hypertelorism correction under 5.3 years of age (average age 3.9 years). The patients were followed an average of 5 years, and six patients were followed in excess of 7 years with clinical and cephalometric parameters. The study demonstrated that the procedure could be safely performed at this age and was aesthetically desirable. There was minimal clinical or cephalometric evidence of skeletal orbital relapse except in three patients, for whom individual explanations are given. During the period of postoperative study, nasomaxillary growth and development proceeded as expected, except in those patients with associated clefting. All patients demonstrated increased cranial width measurements preoperatively and postoperatively, but bigonial and bimastoid measurements were generally within normal range. Excessive resection of nasoglabellar skin at the time of hypertelorism correction appeared to adversely affect nasal development.