Lip height and lip width after extended Mohler unilateral cleft lip repair

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the symmetry in lip height and lip width after extended Mohler unilateral cleft lip repair, with long-term follow-up monitoring. In the Mohler repair procedure, Millard's C-flap is used to fill the entire defect created by the downward rotation of the medial lip element. Because a lateral advancement flap is not transposed into this defect, Mohler repair is often expected to produce a short lip. In a retrospective study of 120 patients, anthropometric measurements were made on black-and-white photographs. Of those patients, 49 met the study criterion of having a set of photographs taken 13 months or less postoperatively and another set taken at least 2 years postoperatively. The distance from the Cupid's bow peak to a line tangent to the base of the columella (lip height) and the distance from the Cupid's bow peak to the ipsilateral commissure (lip width) were measured with a Vernier caliper. The medial intercanthal distance was also measured, for standardization of all measurements. All values were normalized to the mean intercanthal distance at age 6, as reported by Farkas. Matched-pair test analyses were used to assess the statistical significance of differences in cleft-side versus non-cleft-side measurements for each group, as well as changes with time. No statistically significant difference in cleft side versus non-cleft-side lip height for the two groups or with time was observed (< or =13 months, p = 0.28; >2 years, p = 0.08; change with time, p = 0.69). Statistically significant differences in lip width between the cleft side and the non-cleft side were observed for both time groups. The average difference in lip width at 1 to 13 months was 8.6 percent (p < 0.001). The average difference in lip width at 2 years or more postoperatively was 5.8 percent (p < 0.001). In comparisons of early versus late measurements, it was noted that lip width significantly increased with time (mean, 0.91 mm; p = 0.035). The findings suggest that extended Mohler repair does not produce a short lip. Interestingly, lip width was observed to be significantly smaller on the cleft side in the immediate postoperative period. However, this deficiency was observed to decrease significantly during long-term follow-up monitoring.