Diane V. Dado

Comparison of 2-D calculations from periapical and occlusal radiographs versus 3-D calculations from CAT scans in determining bone support for cleft-adjacent teeth following early alveolar bone grafts

OBJECTIVE This investigation was conducted to determine the agreement between three-dimensional (3-D) calculations from CAT scans and two-dimensional (2-D) calculations from standard dental radiographs in evaluating bone support for cleft-adjacent teeth after primary bone grafting. DESIGN This retrospective study utilized CAT scans and dental radiographs taken of the alveolar cleft in patients an average of 11 years after primary bone grafting. SETTING The subjects were patients treated by the Cleft Palate Team at Childrens Memorial Hospital and Loyola University Medical Center, Chicago, Illinois. PATIENTS Fourteen UCLP patients (9 males, 5 females) agreed to participate in this study by undergoing CAT scan assessment of their alveolar cleft sites. They also had to have periapical or occlusal radiographs of the grafted cleft site taken within 6 months of the CAT scan. INTERVENTIONS All patients underwent primary lip repair, placement of a passive palatal plate, primary alveolar bone grafting (mean age 6.4 months), and palatoplasty before 1 year of age. Major tooth movement through final orthodontics was completed by the time of the radiographic assessment. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES CAT scan sections were reformatted and reconstructed to three-dimensionally calculate the percentage of root covered by bone support for the 15 teeth adjacent to the graft cleft sites. Dental radiographs of the same teeth were also traced and digitized. Percentages of root supported by bone were also established using the dental radiographs by dividing the amount of root covered by bone, by the anatomic root length. RESULTS A paired, two-sample t test revealed no significant differences between the two methods of assessment, while linear regression showed a statistically significant correlation between the CAT scan assessment and the percentages found on the radiographs. CONCLUSIONS Routine dental radiographs were able to estimate the total 3-D bone support for the roots of cleft adjacent teeth as determined by CAT scan to a statistically significant degree when groups where compared. The clinical significance for evaluation of individual cases was less impressive with a wide range of variability and a level of agreement that required acceptance of differences up to 25%.

A long-term retrospective outcome assessment of facial growth, secondary surgical need, and maxillary lateral incisor status in a surgical-orthodontic protocol for complete clefts.

&NA; In 1965, the cleft palate team at Childrens Memorial Hospital embarked on a new surgical‐orthodontic protocol in the habilitation of newborn complete cleft lip and palate cases. It brought the orthodontic effort into focus at birth and in planned sequence to correspond with the surgical procedures of lip closure, maxillary alveolar stabilization by means of an autogenous graft of the authors’ design, and complete palate closure, all within the first year of life. The purpose of this investigation is threefold: first, to review the authors’ previous publications and assess growth, secondary surgical need, and lateral incisor status of teeth adjacent to the cleft in a series of patients who have all followed a precise, early surgical/orthodontic protocol; second, to compare these cases with other collaborative studies wherein this protocol was not used; and third, to report on an additional 82 cases with regard to secondary surgical need and the status of teeth adjacent to the cleft. Methods of assessment have included cephalometric radiography, periapical and occlusal dental radiography, computer‐assisted tomography, plaster cast analysis, and intraoral and extraoral photography. The authors have demonstrated, along with other collaborative studies, that there is growth as good as other similar samples wherein there was no primary osteoplasty. In addition, the authors found their incidence of orthognathic surgery to be 18.29 percent; pharyngoplasty, 3.65 percent; and oronasal fistulas requiring surgical closure, 29.27 percent. In the case of unilateral complete clefts, 53.13 percent of those lateral incisors present adjacent to the cleft area were usable, and in bilateral cases, 57.77 percent were usable. The authors remain convinced after more than 35 years of following this successful protocol that early maxillary orthopedics and their technique of primary osteoplasty in planned sequence with lip and palate closure can produce a more favorable alignment of maxillary growth potential and, with comprehensive orthodontic treatment, can lead to teeth in a better overall occlusion than if these procedures had not been undertaken. (Plast. Reconstr. Surg. 111: 1, 2003.)

The case for early bone grafting in cleft lip and palate: a second report.

In 1982, the first long-term study of our early bone-grafting and infant maxillary orthopedic approach to newborn complete clefts of the lip, alveolus, and palate was published. The protocol and sequence of procedures were shown on the first 16 consecutively treated orthodontic patients, with a mean age of 14 years. Cephalometric analysis evaluated anteroposterior and vertical facial growth. This report follows the next 37 consecutively treated individuals in a similar manner and includes not only 20 complete unilateral clefts, but also 17 complete bilateral clefts. Results, when evaluated alone and in comparison with the original series, show once again that there are no adverse growth restraints and that early primary bone grafting in our protocol leads to teeth in better overall occlusion than if it had not been undertaken.

Prediction of postoperative seroma after latissimus dorsi breast reconstruction

Background: The latissimus dorsi flap has become a first-line option in reconstruction of the breast cancer patient. Donor-site seroma is a commonly described postoperative complication of the latissimus dorsi flap. Methods: A retrospective chart review from 1998 to 2003 of all patients undergoing latissimus dorsi breast reconstruction was performed (n = 50). Age of the patients, timing of breast reconstruction, type of nodal dissection (axillary versus sentinel versus none), and chemotherapy status of the patients were examined. Results: The overall incidence of seroma formation was 47 percent. Those patients who had undergone prior or concurrent nodal dissection at the time of breast reconstruction were found to have a higher incidence of seroma formation than patients who had no nodal dissection (52 percent versus 25 percent ) (p = 0.15). Age also was a risk factor for seroma formation, as 63 percent of patients older than 50 had formed seroma as compared with 39 percent of those younger than age 50 (p = 0.08). Conclusion: The authors conclude that advanced age and the presence of nodal disruption before or concurrent with latissimus dorsi breast reconstruction are predictors of donor-site seroma formation.

Orthognathic surgery in cleft patients treated by early bone grafting.

For the past 25 years at Childrens Memorial Hospital in Chicago a protocol has been followed for complete clefts that involves placement of an infant maxillary orthopedic appliance prior to lip closure, surgical closure of the lip, autogenous split-rib grafts to the alveolus to stabilize maxillary segments, and palatal closure, generally within the first year of life. The oldest 36 patients whose skeletal growth was for all practical purposes finished have been followed to determine the need for and type of orthognathic surgery. Of the total sample, 8 patients (22.2 percent) required some type of sagittal orthognathic surgery (1 patient in this group also required vertical maxillary alignment) and 2 patients required maxillary augmentation only in the form of an onlay graft. This report may serve as a baseline for others who wish to report on the incidence and type of orthognathic surgery in their cleft palate centers.

Long-term assessment of early alveolar bone grafts using three-dimensional computer-assisted tomography : A pilot study

&NA; Fifteen patients with complete unilateral cleft lip and palate who had primary alveolar bone grafting were studied with computer‐assisted tomography at a mean age of 12 years. Keeping the maxillary alveolar crest parallel to the plane of the scan, 1.5‐mm cuts of the maxilla were made from the infraorbital rim to the gingival third of the crowns of the teeth. A single operator reformatted the data into three‐dimensional images using the Maxiview 3200 computer workstation. This allowed examination of the position, size, and spatial relationship of the grafted area and quantification of the amount of bone coverage of root surface and bone height of the alveolus in or adjacent to the graft site. Ten patients showed a lateral incisor in the line of the cleft. The average bony coverage of these tooth roots was 76.5 percent. In the five patients in whom there was lateral incisor agenesis, the canine root had average bony coverage of 82.6 percent. The average height of bone at the lateral incisor was 8.7 mm; at the canine, 14.1 mm. In two patients in whom there was only 42 percent tooth root coverage, the teeth were still viable, stable, and without mobility. Computed tomographic (CT) scans of the 15 patients demonstrated good graft survival with adequate volume. The functional and aesthetic status of the dentition in the area of the cleft also was demonstrated. (Plast. Reconstr. Surg. 99: 1840, 1997.)

The anatomy of the orbicularis oris muscle in unilateral cleft lip based on a three-dimensional histologic reconstruction.

The midface of a full-term, stillborn infant with a right complete unilateral cleft lip and palate has been examined by serial histologic sections and a three-dimensional model has been created. The arrangement of the orbicularis oris muscle fibers observed differs markedly from previous descriptions. There is a chaotic arrangement of muscle fibers with no separate muscle layers distinguishable. Muscle fibers on both sides of the cleft insert into the dermis, although the amount of muscle on the medial side is quite sparse compared with the lateral side. There is no evidence of muscle bundles paralleling the cleft margins. An unexpected finding is a significant number of muscle fibers streaming over the cleft ala. In view of these findings, differing as they do from previous reports, there would seem to be strong justification for histologic investigation of the arrangement of muscle fibers in cleft lip to be repeated as further specimens become available.

Absorption of Onlay Bone Grafts in Immature Rabbits: Membranous Versus Enchondral Bone and Bone Struts Versus Paste

The absorption of onlay membranous and enchondral bone graft struts and paste was studied in immature New Zealand rabbits using a volume-displacement technique to determine the volume change in the grafts 8 weeks and 21 weeks after grafting. Membranous and enchondral bone paste does not survive as an onlay graft. Both enchondral and membranous bone graft struts undergo significant resorption (78% decreased volume in the enchondral grafts and 50% in the membranous bone grafts). These data support the clinical experience that both types of onlay bone grafts lose significant volume, and are in relative contradistinction to prior animal studies comparing membranous and enchondral onlay bone grafts.

Upper and lower lip reconstruction using the step technique

The step technique for lip reconstruction is a simple, flexible, one-stage operation that allows reconstruction of full-thickness defects spanning up to two-thirds of the lower lip and, in our experience, one-half of the upper lip without violating the opposite lip or using distant advancement flaps.Twelve patients, ranging in age from 24 to 86 years, underwent full-thickness lip excisions for squamous cell and deeply invading basal cell carcinomas. Reconstruction was achieved by advancing the remaining lateral lip elements to close the defects in a stepwise fashion without violating the remaining orbicularis oris muscle.All patients had a symmetrical, mobile, oral sphincter with intact commissures, adequate buccal sulcus, no symptomatic microstomia, and normal sensation at the completion of the procedure. There have been no recurrences in a nine-month to four-year follow-up, and satisfactory aesthetic results were achieved.

The Tessier number 5 cleft: a report of two cases and a review of the literature.

Two cases of facial clefts that fit the anatomic description of the rare Tessier number 5 cleft are presented and bring the total number of reported cases to 19. These cases and a review of the literature help define the soft-tissue course of the cleft from just medial to the oral commissure to the junction of the middle and lateral thirds of the lower eyelid. They also emphasize the role of axial CT scanning to define the bony cleft as one passing from just distal to the canine tooth to the orbital rim lateral to the infraorbital foramen. The widespread use of CT scanning and a thorough dental examination of these patients should provide more accurate diagnosis and classification of these clefts.