Jan Lilja

Airway Obstruction and Sleep Apnea in Children with Craniofacial Anomalies

Children with severe craniofacial anomalies and breathing problems are rare, and the accumulated experience of their treatment is limited. LeFort III midface advancements have been tried by many craniofacial teams, but no consensus has yet been reached as to the effectiveness of this procedure. In this report of seven patients with craniofacial malformations and severe breathing problems, three had a LeFort III midface advancement, one had release of bilateral temporomandibular joint ankylosis, and two had tonsillectomies. Two patients without a tracheostomy suffocated, four had a long-term tracheostomy, and one was cured by a unilateral tonsillectomy. It was concluded that LeFort III midface advancement is ineffective in these types of cases without a very stable postoperative retention, and it was suggested that all patients with severe craniofacial anomalies and breathing problems, regardless of their planned subsequent treatment, should have a tracheostomy as an initial measure.

Analysis of Dental Arch Relationships in Swedish Unilateral Cleft Lip and Palate Subjects: 20-Year Longitudinal Consecutive Series Treated With Delayed Hard Palate Closure

Objective: To evaluate the dental arch relationships for a consecutive series from Goteborg, Sweden, who had delayed hard palate closure. Design: Retrospective study. Setting: Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Goteborg, Sweden. Patients: The dental study models of 104 consecutive unilateral cleft lip and palate subjects. The study cohort was born between 1979 and 1994. Longitudinal records were available at ages 5 (n = 94), 10 (n = 97), 16 (n = 59), and 19 years (n = 46). Five assessors rated models according to the GOSLON Yardstick on two separate occasions each. Interventions: These patients had been operated upon according to the Goteborg protocol of delayed hard palate closure (at age 8 years). Results: 85% of subjects were rated in groups 1 and 2 (excellent or very good outcome), 12% were rated in group 3 (satisfactory), and 3% were assigned to group 4 (poor). No patients presented in Group 5 (very poor). Weighted kappa statistics for double determination of Yardstick allocation for five assessors demonstrated values between .65 and .90 for interrater agreement (good/very good) and between .70 and .90 for intrarater agreement (very good). Conclusions: Delayed hard palate closure as practiced in Goteborg since 1979 has produced the best GOSLON Yardstick ratings in a consecutive series of patients ever recorded worldwide, since the Yardstick was first used in 1983. However, it is noteworthy that a new protocol has been introduced in Goteborg since 1994, in which hard palate closure is done at 3 years due to concerns regarding speech.

Bone Grafting At The Stage Of Mixed Dentition In Cleft Lip and Palate Patients

Our results of bone grafting to the alveolar process during the mixed dentition were investigated in 55 consecutively treated patients (66 clefts). The amount of remaining bone and gingival retraction at the tooth mesial to the cleft after 3 and 12 months was measured and correlated with the following anatomical conditions present during surgery: width of the cleft, rotation of the adjacent incisor, stage of eruption of the tooth distal to the cleft. It was also considered if any deciduous lateral incisor or canine was extracted during surgery and if any flap dehiscence took place postoperatively. It was found that flap dehiscence resulted in significantly less bone at 3 months and at 1 year after surgery. Furthermore, extraction of a deciduous tooth was found to be significantly correlated to less bone 1 year after surgery, in which cases there were also persisting gingival retractions. The other factors had no significant influence on the outcome of surgery.

Craniofacial and occlusal characteristics in unilateral cleft lip and palate patients from four scandinavian centres

Craniofacial morphology and dental occlusion were studied at early school age in 15 consecutive patients with unilateral cleft lip and palate from each of four Scandinavian cleft centres. Treatment differed mainly in the techniques of palatal repair. Push-back closure of the palate particularly impaired maxillary development, which resulted in an increased incidence of crossbite and reduced intercanine distance when compared with patients who had been operated on by the von Langenbeck method or in whom the anterior palate had not yet been closed.

Innervation of different parts of the predentin and dentin in young human premolars

The innervation of the predentin and inner part of the mineralized dentin was studied at the ultrastructural level in ten premolars. Each tooth was divided into fifteen different parts, each containing odontoblasts, predentin and dentin. It was found that the innervation in the coronal dentin was more compact than in the root dentin. Within the coronal dentin itself, the most densely innervated area was the dentin covering the pulp horns. No nerves were identified more than 100 microns from the pulp-dentinal border. No nervous structures were found in the mineralized dentin of the root. Nervous structures which seemed to have no connection with the odontoblastic processes were frequently observed in the predentin of the root. Signs of degeneration of the nervous structures of the predentin of the root was also a common finding. The observation that the intradentinal nerves were confined to the predentin and the most pulpal part of the dentin supports the theory that surface stimulation on dentin has an indirect effect on the nerves activated by movements in the liquid of the dentinal tubules.

Combined Bone Grafting and Delayed Closure of the Hard Palate in Patients with Unilateral Cleft Lip and Palate: Facilitation of Lateral Incisor Eruption and Evaluation of Indicators for Timing of the Procedure

OBJECTIVE To compare outcomes of bone grafting performed before eruption of the lateral incisor to outcomes of grafting performed before eruption of the canine and to evaluate the long-term results of bone grafting combined with delayed closure of the hard palate during mixed dentition. DESIGN Seventy consecutive patients (52 men and 18 women) with complete unilateral cleft lip and palate were studied. All patients underwent bone grafting with simultaneous closure of the cleft in the hard palate at the stage of mixed dentition. The velum had been repaired in infancy. Mean age for the bone grafting procedure was 8.4 years. Bone grafting was performed to facilitate eruption of the lateral incisor in 43 (61%) of the patients and to facilitate eruption of the canine in the remaining 27 (39%) patients. Intraoral radiographs were used to evaluate the morphologic characteristics of the cleft and the stage of eruption of the permanent lateral incisor and canine before bone grafting. Mean follow-up time was 4.0 years (range, 1-10.1 years). RESULTS The mean time for the surgery, which included bone grafting and repair of the residual cleft in the hard palate, was 109 minutes, and the mean amount of bleeding was 121 ml. The rate of dehiscence in the flap covering the alveolar bone graft was 14%, and the rate of total failure of bone grafting was 3%. An oronasal fistula developed in the hard palate of 13% of patients, but the fistula was of sufficient size to serve as an indication for reoperation in only 6%. The postoperative alveolar bony height in the cleft area was more than 75% of the normal height in 94% of patients. Closure of the cleft space in the dental arch was performed or planned to be achieved orthodontically in 91% of patients. When bone grafting was performed to facilitate eruption of the lateral incisor, the cleft space was closed orthodontically in 100% of patients. The optimal indicator for timing of the bone grafting procedure from an orthodontic point of view was when the permanent lateral incisor or the canine close to the cleft was covered by a thin shell of bone (i.e., 7-9 years of age).

Cleft Lip and Palate Treatment with Delayed Closure of the Hard Palate

A new routine for the surgical treatment of cleft lip and palate patients is presented. Beside the regular lip-nose surgery it includes delayed closure of the cleft in the hard palate and soft palate closure without push-back technique. The effect on early facial growth was evaluated by comparing eight of these patients, three years of age, with a matched group where the hard and soft palate was closed primarily by vomer flap and velar push-back. The new treatment method resulted in significantly less teeth in crossbite occlusion due to a wider maxillary dental arch. As yet no serious disadvantages have been recorded.

Speech development in patients with unilateral cleft lip and palate treated with different delays in closure of the hard palate after early velar repair: a longitudinal perspective.

We wanted to find out if different timing of delayed repair of the hard palate in a two-stage procedure had an impact on the speech of 26 patients with unilateral cleft lip and palate (UCLP). The soft palate was closed at the age of 7 months and the hard palate between 38 and 89 months of age. Speech audio recordings at the age of 3 years (baseline, before any repair of the hard palate) and at the ages of 5, 7, and 10 years (the latter obtained at least one year after closure) were analysed. We used standardised speech assessments at routine follow-up and assessment by one external listener. The prevalence of speech errors caused by the cleft was similar to those described in previous reports from our centre in which hard palate repair was delayed. Unexpectedly, the results showed no difference in speech production related to timing of hard palate repair, except for nasal air leakage at the age of 7 years.

Lip and Nose Morphology in Patients with Unilateral Cleft lip and palate from Four Scandinavian Centres

Sixty patients with unilateral cleft lip and palate were compared for lip and nose appearance. All patients were photographed from an anteroposterior and a basal view at 7-10 years of age. The photographic registration method was tested for validity and accuracy. Although the four groups of 15 patients each were treated according to different protocols, many similarities were found with shorter lip heights at the cleft side and inclination of the rima oris. Asymmetry of nose and retropositioning at the cleft side naris were generally seen. Significantly straighter noses were demonstrated in the group treated with a two-stage lip nose operation combined with nose plugs, and the two groups where vomer flaps were used showed the greatest deviation of the nose.

Trigonocephaly: Clinical and Cephalometric Assessment of Craniofacial Morphology in Operated and Nontreated Patients

Craniofacial parameters were studied clinically and by cephalometry in 11 trigonocephalic patients from infancy to 4 years of age. Six of the most severe patients had surgery between 6 and 18 months of age. Analysis of morphology indicated that bony interorbital distance was reduced in patients selected for surgery and hypotelorism persisted at final examination. All patients demonstrated orbital width measurements above the mean for the norm, while orbital height was essentially normal. All but one of the patients had a variably prominent forehead bony ridge that was eliminated or reduced as a result of surgery and/or growth. However, the forehead of most patients, whether operated or not, was too narrow when compared to normal skulls. Thus, although some of the striking features of trigonocephaly are eliminated, minor characteristics of the anomaly still persevere at 4 years of age.