Evaluation of the effect of early mobilization of the supraorbital bar on the frontal sinus and frontal growth.

Consequences of early frontocranial remodeling are controversial. It has been said that secondary operations are more difficult and that the frontal sinus does not develop well, with an adverse effect on forehead aesthetics. Some illustrative cases are presented, among 820 operated craniosynostoses, to demonstrate that (1) an early, well-performed frontal advancement and/or remodeling is followed by satisfactory reossification and permits easy secondary surgery, (2) frontal sinus development, which is always impaired in anterior craniosynostosis, is only moderately diminished by early supraorbital bar remodeling (when the frontal bar is repositioned after remodeling, as with trigonocephaly, the frontal sinus develops in 83 percent of cases, whereas when the advancement is significant, as with brachycephaly, the development of the frontal sinus is observed in only 50 percent of the cases), and (3) forehead aesthetics are not linked closely to the development of the frontal sinus. After a significant advancement, even if the sinus does not develop, the frontal bar projection can remain satisfactory.