Related Experiment Video
Updated: Mar 27, 2026

Method of Studying Palatal Fusion using Static Organ Culture
Published on: September 19, 2015
Complex Facial Clefts
Dale J Podolsky1, Karen W Y Wong Riff2, David M Fisher2
1Division of Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Posluns Center for Image Guided Innovation and Therapeutic Intervention (PCIGITI), Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
None:
The embryology, classification, evaluation, and reconstructive management of complex craniofacial clefts, a group of exceedingly rare and highly variable congenital anomalies, is presented. Using the Tessier system as a structural framework, the characteristic features of each cleft subtype and highlights, key diagnostic considerations, including assessment of soft-tissue deficiency, skeletal disruption, and associated functional concerns are described. Emphasis is placed on the application of fundamental reconstructive principles: respect for facial subunits, restoration of symmetry, and staged correction of bony deformities, that guide individualized surgical planning in the context of significant phenotypic heterogeneity.
Related Concept Videos
Muscles for Facial Expressions
Cystic Fibrosis: Pathogenesis
CF is primarily caused by a genetic mutation in a chromosome 7 gene coding for the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) protein. The most common gene mutation leading to CF is the ΔF508 mutation,...
Sutures of the Skull
Sutures are immobile joints between adjacent bones of the skull. The narrow gap between the bones is filled with dense, fibrous connective tissue that unites the bones. The long sutures located between the skull bones are not straight but instead follow irregular, tightly twisting paths. These twisting lines tightly...
Prosopagnosia
Facial Feedback Hypothesis
Overview of the Skull
The cranial vault surrounds and protects the brain and houses the middle and inner ear structures. This cavity is bounded superiorly by the rounded top of the skull, which...

