Correction of the unilateral cleft lip nose

The cleft lip nasal deformity is best repaired secondarily in teenagers. Some more severe cases may be repaired during childhood. Optimal repair requires adequate exposure, best obtained with transcolumellar flying-bird incisions. The major anatomic defect, the misplaced lateral crus, needs to be advanced to a normal position. The vestibular lining of the lateral crus should remain attached to add circulation and support, especially when scoring of the cartilage is needed. The lateral defect left after advancement of the lateral crus should be closed with sutures. Accessory procedures, including septoplasty, augmentation or reshifting of the alar base attachment, and occasionally, cartilage grafts, are critical to achieving an aesthetic result. Fifty-three patients operated on using the technique described are reviewed.     

Treatment of the unilateral cleft lip nose.

Unilateral nasal shortening is an essential step in both the primary and the secondary treatment of the unilateral cleft lip nose. Procedures for this are described.     

Definitive repair of the unilateral cleft lip nasal deformity

The majority of patients with a unilateral cleft nasal deformity still benefit from additional nasal surgery in their teenage years, despite having undergone a primary nasal repair. However, the secondary nasal deformity of these patients stands in sharp contrast to those of children who have not benefited from primary repair. The authors' algorithm for the definitive correction of these secondary deformities considers the differences in these two patient groups and defines their indications for rib cartilage grafts and their method of using septal and ear cartilage in the repair. Balancing the muscle forces on the septum and alar cartilage is emphasized in both the primary and secondary repair. Both cartilage malposition and hypoplasia of the lower lateral cartilage complex have been identified as factors contributing to the deformity.     

Nonsurgical correction of nasal deformity in unilateral complete cleft lip: a 6-year follow-up.

Nasal deformity in unilateral cleft lip and palate patients increases with time, tongue malposition being one of the causes. Some authors have emphasized the role of nasal and adjacent facial musculature as active extrinsic agents. Another cause of alar deformity can be the lack of a proper foundation because of a maxillary hypoplasia in the region of the pyriform foramen. If alar collapse occurs, the septum bends convexly toward the cleft side. Tissues are soft and plastic during the neonatal period. Once the infant is about 3 months of age, it becomes difficult to correct the nasal deformity. Therefore, any resource used from the first day, and mainly during the first 15 days of life, will be useful to prevent the increasing deformity and to avoid the surgical correction. A controlled clinical trial was planned to compare the anthropometric measurements of the nasal region in two series of patients with unilateral complete cleft lip. In the first group, we included 44 patients who came to our clinic during the first 2 days of life and the second group consisted of 47 patients who were more than 15 days of age at the time of the first consultation. To provide control data for the evaluation of the results after 6 years of follow-up in both series of cleft patients, we also included a third group of 48 healthy 6-year-old children. A nasal component added to the occlusal prostheses was only used in the first group up to the time of surgery. The same surgeon performed a Millard II procedure with muscular reposition as described by Delaire in all the patients. Nasal measurements taken with a caliper, obtained directly from plaster models by using surface impressions of the babies, were confirmed by a laser three-dimensional measuring device. The statistical comparison between both series showed a significant increase of the columellar length in the first group. A 6-year follow-up to compare growth and cosmetic results of the nose revealed a better and permanent nasal nostril symmetry and no alar cartilage luxation in the patients who had had the nasal component. These results highlight the importance of the early treatment and allow us to suggest the nasal prostheses as a way to prevent the increasing nasal deformity, to help nasal remodeling, to obtain columellar elongation, and to avoid or decrease the need for primary surgery of the cleft nose.     

Primary correction of the unilateral cleft lip nose: a 15-year experience

This paper reviews a 15-year personal experience based on 400 unilateral cleft nasal deformities that were reconstructed using a method that repositions the alar cartilage by freeing it from the skin and lining and shifts it to a new position. The rotation-advancement lip procedure facilitates the exposure and approach to the nasal reconstruction. The nasal soft tissues are transected from the skeletal base, reshaped, repositioned, and secured by using temporary stent sutures that readapt the alar cartilage, skin, and lining. The nasal floor is closed and the ala base is positioned to match the normal side. Good subsequent growth with maintenance of the reconstruction has been noted in this series. The repair does not directly expose or suture the alar cartilage. Improvement in the cleft nasal deformity is noted in 80 percent of the cases. Twenty percent require additional techniques to achieve the desired symmetry. This method has been used by the author as his primary unilateral cleft nasal repair and has been taught to residents and fellows under his direction with good results. This technique eliminates the severe cleft nasal deformity seen in many secondary cases.     

Secondary correction of the unilateral cleft lip nose using a conchal composite graft

The secondary deformity of the unilateral cleft lip nose has many components. One is the dorsal dislocation of the lateral crus of the alar cartilage. We used a conchal composite graft positioned between the piriform aperture and the lateral crus and the upper lateral cartilage to correct this dislocation in nine patients. We believe that this graft is effective because it elevates the lateral crus of the alar cartilage off the depressed piriform aperture. This technique is very simple to perform, and it is easy to achieve nasal symmetry. Our results have been quite satisfactory, with no recurrence of dorsal dislocation. The donor site was covered by a subcutaneous pedicled flap from the cephaloauricular sulcus, leaving an inconspicuous deformity.     

A comparison of the craniofacial morphology in 2-month-old unoperated infants with unilateral complete cleft lip and palate, and unilateral incomplete cleft lip.

This paper reports a cephalometric analysis of the craniofacial morphology in infants with unoperated unilateral complete cleft lip and palate (UCCLP) and unoperated unilateral incomplete cleft lip (UICL). The purpose of the study was to determine the nature and extent of the craniofacial deviations in UCCLP as compared to the morphology in UICL, which has previously been shown to be close to normal. The samples comprised 82 infants with UCCLP (58 males and 24 females) and 75 with UICL (48 males and 27 females). The mean age was about 2 months in both groups. The cephalometric analysis of craniofacial morphology included the lateral, frontal, and axial projections. The data were presented as mean plots of the craniofacial region including the calvaria, cranial base, orbits, nasal bone, maxilla, mandible, cervical column, pharynx, and soft-tissue profile. The most pronounced deviations in the UCCLP group were observed in the maxillary complex and the mandible. The most striking findings were: markedly increased width of the maxilla, a short mandible, and bimaxillary retrognathia except for the premaxillary area, which was relatively protruding and asymmetric. The study did not support the hypothesis previously suggested in the literature that cleft lip and palate is a craniofacial anomaly as size and shape of the calvaria and cranial base were found to be normal. The etiology of cleft lip and palate is still incompletely understood. Based on the present study, we suggest that facial type may be a liability factor that could represent a developmental threshold increasing the probability of cleft lip and palate.