Anatomical repair of a bilateral Tessier No. 3 cleft by midfacial advancement

Bilateral Tessier number 3 clefts are extremely rare, and their surgical treatments have not been well established.

The authors describe the case of a patient with a right Tessier number 3, 11 facial cleft with microphthalmia, a left Tessier number 3 facial cleft with anophthalmia, and cleft palate. We repaired simultaneously the bilateral soft tissue clefts by premaxillary repositioning, cleft lip repair, facial cleft repair by nasal lengthening, midfacial advancement, and an upper eyelid transposition flap with repositioning both the medial canthi. Postoperatively, the patient showed an esthetically acceptable face without unnatural scars.

We achieved good results functionally and esthetically by midfacial advancement with facial muscle reposition instead of traditional interdigitating Z-plasties. The surgical modality of our anatomical repair and 3 months follow-up results are presented.