A single hypoglossal nerve for bilateral smile reconstruction in Möbius syndrome.

Möbius syndrome is a rare congenital disorder characterized by a variety of cranial nerve defects. Although there are several variants of Möbius syndrome depending on which cranial nerves are affected, the commonest form involves facial and abducens cranial nerve paralysis. Despite several strategies for bilateral smile reconstruction that have been advocated, the condition still presents a challenge to the plastic surgeon. The most acceptable method nowadays is bilateral free neurovascularized muscle transfer. The author represents a new method of using a single hypoglossal nerve to supply both free flaps in a Möbius patient. The procedure is done on 2 stages using both latissimus dorsi muscles and a single hypoglossal nerve. The patient regained a natural symmetric smile 12 months after the first stage. Despite hemilingual atrophy, no tongue morbidity was observed. The author concludes that despite the limitation of the study, the hypoglossal nerve is a good nerve source to supply both free flaps for smile reconstruction in Möbius syndrome.