Abstract
Two populations were studied and compared to determine the effects of cleft lip and palate surgery on the nose and face. In the first, three anthropometric measurements, two nasal and one facial, were taken before primary lip repair from infants with complete unilateral cleft lip and palate (UCLP) and with bilateral cleft lip and palate (BCLP). In the second, ten measurements were taken from the nose and face of patients surgically treated for UCLP and BCLP. The high frequency of noses disproportionately wide in relation to their height in both cleft types before primary lip repair greatly decreased after surgery. Among the residual deformities after surgery for UCLP, nostril floor width asymmetry was the most frequent, followed by columella length asymmetry, flat nasal bridge, wide soft nose, flat nasal tip, and small nasal tip protrusion. In the BCLP patients, nostril floor width asymmetry was also the most common stigma, followed by flat nasal tip, wide soft nose, columella length asymmetry, flat nasal bridge and bilaterally angled alae, and small nasal tip protrusion. A subnormally flat upper face inclination was observed in UCLP and BCLP patients. Quantitative determination of these nasal stigmata in cleft lip and palate patients who have undergone primary lip repair provides valuable information for surgical correction of the cleft soft-tissue deformities.
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