Changes in soft tissue thickness after Le Fort I osteotomy in different cleft types

The soft tissue thickness before and after Le Fort I osteotomy was evaluated in 46 cleft patients. The sample consisted of 10 patients with isolated cleft palate (CP, mean age 25.5 years); 10 patients with bilateral cleft lip and palate (BCLP, mean age 21.7 years); and 26 patients with unilateral cleft lip and palate (UCLP, mean age 22.9 years). Patients with bimaxillary surgery, simultaneous rhinoplasty, or V-Y plasty of the upper lip were excluded. Soft tissue changes were analyzed by cephalograms taken shortly before surgery and at 6 months postoperatively. Horizontal advancement varied from 4.1 mm in the UCLP group to 5 mm in the BCLP group. The vertical lengthening varied from 3.7 mm in the CP group to 7.2 mm in the BCLP group. In all cleft types, thinning of the subnasal area, superior labial sulcus, and upper lip (anterior nasal spine-subnasale, point A-soft tissue point A, and prosthion-labrale superius) took place. Significant thinning of the upper lip occurred in the UCLP and BCLP patients. Surgical changes of the lower lip and mandibular area were small and insignificant. There were significant differences in soft tissue thicknesses between different types of clefts. The subnasal area and superior labial sulcus were significantly thicker in the CP group than in the BCLP or UCLP groups, both pre- and postoperatively. The upper lip was thickest in the BCLP group preoperatively but thickest in the CP group postoperatively. The upper lip was thinnest in the UCLP group both before and after the operation.