SURGICAL PLANNING AND CORRECTION OF MEDIAL CRANIOFACIAL CLEFT

In the framework of malformations that concerns the craniofacial area, the orbit is often involved because it represents the border structur e between the neurocranium and the splanchnocranium. In these malforma tions it is very easy to find hypertelorism. Tessier classified clefts rising from the anterior skullbase and involving the maxilla and the alveolar process, as medial or 0 = 14 clefts. We report on a 2-year-ol d patient, treated with cranial decompression at an early age, sufferi ng from this kind of malformation. To correct it, the surgical techniq ue of facial bipartition was used. This technique, used for the first time by Tessier and then modified by Stricker and colleagues, allows t he simultaneous correction of the orbits and maxilla. It is very impor tant to make a correct diagnosis, to plan for surgery carefully for pa tients suffering from this kind of pathology, and to prescribe the mos t effective therapy. A computerized analysis system, based on the stud y of teleradiographic images and on three-dimensional computed tomogra phy, to quantify the extent of the malformation and to define surgical planning was developed.