Management of Lip Pits in Van der Woude Syndrome: A Clinical Classification With Difficulty Index

Numerous case reports have been published on lip pits in Van der Woude syndrome explaining the morphology and genetics in detail; however, thus far, no article has focused on the classification of lip pits as an aid in surgical management. Although the procedure for lip pits in Van der Woude syndrome appears straightforward, even in the best of hands, the excision can be very challenging with no guarantee of esthetically desirable results. Therefore, we have devised a classification based on a difficulty index in the management of lower lip pits to assist in predicting the treatment outcome before surgery, as well as to offer the choice of a particular technique in a specific situation.

We reviewed 19 cases of Van der Woude syndrome having lower lip pits that were operated on at our unit from May 2005 to June 2015 with a minimum follow-up of at least 6 months. The data analyzed included the patient's age and gender, location of the lip pits with regard to their proximity to the white skin roll, number of lip pits, presurgical depth of the lip pits, and discharge of mucous secretion from the pits, as well as timing of lip pit excision. Four techniques of excision were performed via routine excision, modified routine excision, vertical wedge excision, and inverted-T lip reduction. The data were tabulated and analyzed. On the basis of our experience in managing lip pits, a clinically relevant classification with a difficulty index was then proposed.

Among the 12 patients having preoperative involvement of the white skin roll, 8 had distortion of the white skin roll when operated on by either routine excision (n = 2), modified routine excision (n = 3), or inverted-T lip reduction (n = 3). The remaining 4 patients had no distortion of the white skin roll after surgery when the vertical wedge excision technique was performed. The 7 patients who had no distortion of the white skin roll preoperatively presented with esthetic results when operated on by either the routine excision, modified routine excision, or inverted-T lip reduction technique. In 2 patients with a presurgical pit depth greater than 6 mm, mucocele formation was observed after surgery. Using the data obtained, we proposed a classification based on 2 parameters: involvement of the white skin roll and presurgical depth. A difficulty index also was proposed using these same variables.

Classification and evaluation of the difficulty of lip pit excision are essential in planning the surgical treatment to give improved esthetic results. This proposed classification and difficulty index will provide the operating surgeon with a standardized scheme to evaluate the difficulty of the excision as well as to predict the overall outcome of the procedure before surgery.