Craniofacial morphology in young adults with the Pierre Robin sequence and isolated cleft palate

The craniofacial morphology of 30 young adults with the Pierre Robin sequence, aged 17.0-27.1 years (mean, 20.8), was analyzed and compared with the craniofacial morphology of 116 young adults with isolated cleft palate, aged 16.9-20.6 years (mean, 18.8). All patients had been examined and operated on at the Cleft Center, Department of Plastic Surgery, Helsinki University Central Hospital. The skeletal dimensions of patients with Pierre Robin sequence differed from those of patients with isolated cleft palate by the shorter posterior cranial base, maxilla, and mandibular ramus. The mandible was also more retruded and more posteriorly rotated, and the soft tissue profile more convex in Pierre Robin sequence patients. In the pharyngeal area, the lower sagittal depth of the pharynx was significantly shorter and the hyoid bone position more inferior in those with Pierre Robin sequence than in those with isolated cleft palate.