Evaluation of 5-year-old children with complete cleft lip and palate: Multicenter study. Part 1: Lip and nose aesthetic results

Primary cheilorhinoseptoplasty using the Talmant protocol in unilateral complete cleft lip: functional and aesthetic results on nasal correction and comparison with the Tennison-Malek protocol

Many surgical procedures used to treat patients with unilateral complete cleft lip do not include a complete primary rhinoseptoplasty, which is delayed until the end of growth as part of secondary surgery. Primary cheilorhinoseptoplasty using the Talmant technique has been performed at Lapeyronie University Hospital, Montpellier for 15 years. This retrospective study evaluated and compared the functional and aesthetic results obtained in such patients at 4-6 years after surgery with those obtained without primary rhinoseptoplasty in patients undergoing the Tennison-Malek technique. This study included a cohort of 60 children who presented a unilateral complete cleft lip: 29 were operated on with the Tennison-Malek technique and 31 with the Talmant technique. Three functional and 14 aesthetic criteria were evaluated. All functional criteria showed better results in the Talmant group: nocturnal nasal breathing (P < 0.001), incidence of closed rhinolalia (P = 0.0019), and presence of asymmetric nasal breathing (P < 0.001). Concerning the aesthetic results, all criteria evaluated on the frontal and basal photographs of each patient showed significantly better results in the Talmant technique group. The rate of satisfactory results was> 75% for 12 of the 14 criteria in the Talmant group, compared with none of the 14 criteria in the Tennison-Malek group.

Lips and noses in 10-year old patients with repaired complete unilateral clefts of lip, alveolus, and palate. A prospective three-centre study of the Baltic Cleft Network

This multicenter study aimed at comparing different techniques of lip and nose repair with or without NAM and primary anterior rhinoplasty in pre-adolescent children. Patients with unilateral clefts of lip, alveolus, and palate who had undergone cleft lip and nose repair were evaluated in a prospective three-centre study using standardized monochromatic, cropped photographs. Four cleft surgeons evaluated the aesthetics of the central part of the face when the patients had reached age ten years. Seventy-six sets of photographs out of 87 patients were evaluated. The overall ratings of lips and noses did not differ much between centres. However, noses of centres 1 (mean 0.74; SD 0.57) and 2 (mean 0.76; SD 0.60) had been rated better than centre 3 (mean 1.32; SD 0.78; p = 0.0078), especially "Deformation of upper part of nostril rim or poor position of alar cartilage". Centre 3 had produced better looking scars (mean 0.33; SD 0.48); p = 0.0036. Within the limitations of the study it seems that NAM and primary anterior rhinoplasty including postoperative nasal stents should be performed whenever possible in order to achieve a favorable shape of the nose and to reduce the need for secondary corrective surgery.

Aesthetic and psychosocial impact of dentofacial appearance after primary rhinoplasty for cleft lip and palate

The primary aim of this study was to demonstrate whether primary rhinoplasty shows aesthetic and psychosocial advantages for children with a complete unilateral cleft lip and palate. The second aim was to determine the satisfaction levels concerning the dentofacial appearance. Group A corresponded to patients from a center specialised in primary cheilo-rhinoplasty with 20 years' experience and Group B to patients who did not benefit from primary rhinoplasty. Children and their parents filled in a custom-designed satisfaction questionnaire on dentofacial appearance and its psychosocial impact. The variables studied were the main criterion (the nose) and secondary criteria (the upper lip, the smile, the profile and the face as a whole). 56 families consented to be involved in the study. The children did not rate statistically differently their social relationships if they had primary rhinoplasty or not. Parents however expressed very different views. They considered the nasal appearance of the children who had primary rhinoplasty as statistically more attractive and evaluated their psychosocial experience as significantly better. For the other parts of the face, in both groups, satisfaction levels of dentofacial appearance and psychosocial comfort were good (scores above 80/100). Yet, 44% of the families would go for further interventions, especially concerning the nose (13% of whom were in Group A and 42% in Group B). Within the limitations of this study, primary rhinoplasty seems to improve the patient's well-being and social life and, therefore, should be considered whenever appropriate.

Nasolabial aesthetics of patients with repaired unilateral cleft lip and palate: A comparison of three rating methods in two countries

OBJECTIVES

The study aimed to compare nasolabial aesthetics of patients with unilateral cleft lip and palate (UCLP) treated in Vietnam and Estonia using three rating methods: five-point aesthetic index, a visual analogue scale (VAS), and reference scores method.

METHODS

A total of 56 patients with repaired UCLP (23 from Vietnam and 33 from Estonia) were included in this cross-sectional study. Patients' facial and profile photographs were cropped to reveal the nasolabial region and coded. Five examiners rated nasolabial aesthetics of the patients using three methods: five-point aesthetic index, 100 mm VAS, and reference scores method. Intraclass correlation coefficients were used to evaluate intrarater and interrater reliabilities.

RESULTS

The five-point aesthetic index had a higher reliability than VAS and reference scores method. The least aesthetic feature among Vietnamese and Estonian patients was nasal symmetry and nasolabial profile respectively. No differences in nasolabial aesthetics were found between Vietnamese and Estonian patients regardless of the rating methods (p > 0.05) except for nasal symmetry.

CONCLUSIONS

The five-point aesthetic index seems to produce more reproducible results. There were no significant differences in nasolabial aesthetics between the two countries. Overall average nasolabial appearance results were obtained using different treatment protocols in the two countries.

A novel computer system for the evaluation of nasolabial morphology, symmetry and aesthetics after cleft lip and palate treatment. Part 1: General concept and validation

PURPOSE

The need for a widely accepted method suitable for a multicentre quantitative evaluation of facial aesthetics after surgical treatment of cleft lip and palate (CLP) has been emphasized for years. The aim of this study was to validate a novel computer system 'Analyse It Doc' (A.I.D.) as a tool for objective anthropometric analysis of the nasolabial region.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

An indirect anthropometric analysis of facial photographs was conducted with the A.I.D. system and Adobe Photoshop/ImageJ software. Intra-rater and inter-rater reliability and the time required for the analysis were estimated separately for each method and compared.

RESULTS

Analysis with A.I.D. system was nearly 10-fold faster than that with the reference evaluation method. The A.I.D. system provided strong inter-rater and intra-rater correlations for linear, angular and area measurements of the nasolabial region, as well as a significantly higher accuracy and reproducibility of angular measurements in submental view. No statistically significant inter-method differences were found for other measurements.

CONCLUSIONS

The hereby presented novel computer system is suitable for simple, time-efficient and reliable multicenter photogrammetric analyses of the nasolabial region in CLP patients and healthy subjects.