Five-year follow-up of Le Fort I osteotomies

The outcome of a five-year radiographic follow-up study of 150 patients with maxillo-mandibular malformations who had undergone Le Fort I osteotomy of the maxilla is reported. A superimposition technique made possible an exact evaluation of the adjustments effected. The results confirm the validity of a study conducted in 1977 and the five-year stability of the maxilla. The importance of the relationship between the Frankfort plane, occlusal plane and the osteotomy line is emphasized. In operations in which Le Fort I osteotomy of the maxilla is combined with a sagittal osteotomy of the mandible the maxilla undergoes minute displacements in the weeks following surgery, which can easily be predicted and allowed for at the planning stage. The long-term stability of the maxilla is assured.