Rr. Hathaway et al., Primary alveolar cleft bone grafting in unilateral cleft lip and palate: Craniofacial form at age 8, J CRANIOF S, 10(1), 1999, pp. 68-72
Counterpart analysis can be advantageous for the clinician interested in th
e underlying determinants of the craniofacial form for any given person. Th
is analysis was performed for a group of patients who underwent primary alv
eolar cleft bone grafting (N = 18) and a group of patients who did not unde
rgo grafting (N = 19) who were 8 years of age (+/-6 months). The primary gr
afting group more frequently noted maxillary retrusion, but of a nonsignifi
cant magnitude. Also, the primary grafting group had greater mean magnitude
s of mandibular opening as a compensatory adjustment in some patients, but
this could not be generalized to all patients who had underdone primary gra
fting. The mean magnitude of craniofacial vertical shortening was also grea
ter for some patients who had undergone primary grafting, but it, too, did
not exhibit a generalized pattern for all patients who had undergone primar
y alveolar cleft bone grafting procedures. This study emphasizes the great
diversity of craniofacial skeletal adjustments made within each group of pa
tients with unilateral cleft lip and palate and cautions the clinician agai
nst generalizations concerning a particular treatment protocol.