Craniofacial clefts
1Department of Plastic Surgery, Bellevue Hospital, New York, New York.
Abstract:
No major breakthroughs have occurred since Kawamoto last discussed this topic in the Clinics in 1976. Advances such as early surgery, cranial bone grafting, modern methods of fixation, and tissue expansion have been applied with success to craniofacial clefts as in the treatment of other craniofacial deformities. Twenty years have passed since Tessier first presented his classification of craniofacial clefts, and that interval has served to reinforce the magnitude of Tessier's contribution to craniofacial surgery.
Related Concept Videos
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...
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...
Cranial Bones: Superior and Posterior View
The frontal bone is the single bone that forms the forehead. At its anterior midline, between the eyebrows, there is a slight depression called the glabella. The frontal bone also forms the supraorbital margin of the orbit. Near the middle of this margin is the supraorbital foramen, the opening that provides passage for a sensory nerve to the forehead. The frontal bone is thickened just above each supraorbital margin,...
Cranial Bones: Lateral View
The temporal bone forms the lower lateral side of the skull. The temporal bone is subdivided into several regions. The flattened upper portion is the squamous portion of the temporal bone. Below this area and projecting anteriorly is the zygomatic process of the temporal bone, which forms the posterior portion of the zygomatic arch. Posteriorly is the mastoid portion of the temporal bone. Projecting...
Muscles for Facial Expressions
Bone Formation by Intramembranous Ossification
The process begins when mesenchymal cells in the embryonic skeleton gather together and differentiate into osteogenic cells, which then develop into...


