Faculty Bibliography

OBJECTIVE: To report the associations of oro-nasal fistulae on the patient-centered outcomes oral health-related quality of life and self-reported speech outcomes in school aged-children. DESIGN: Prospective, nonrandomized multicenter design. SETTING: Six ACPA-accredited cleft centers. PARTICIPANTS: Patients with cleft palate at the age of mixed dentition. INTERVENTIONS: None. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Prevalence of fistula and location of fistula (Pittsburgh Classification System). Patients were placed into one of three groups based on the following criteria: alveolar cleft present, no previous repair (Group 1); alveolar cleft present, previously repaired (Group 2); no congenital alveolar cleft (Group 3). Presence of fistula and subgroup classification were correlated to oral health-related quality of life (Child Oral Health Impact Profile [COHIP]) and perceived speech outcomes. RESULTS: The fistula rate was 5.52% (62 of 1198 patients). There was a significant difference in fistula rate between the three groups: Group 1 (11.15%), Group 2 (4.44%), Group 3 (1.90%). Patients with fistula had significantly lower COHIP scores (F1,1188 = 4.79; P = .03) and worse self-reported speech scores (F1,1197 = 4.27; P = .04). Group 1 patients with fistula had the lowest COHIP scores (F5,1188 = 4.78, P =.02) and the lowest speech scores (F5,1188 = 3.41, P = .003). CONCLUSIONS: Presence of palatal fistulas was associated with lower oral health-related quality of life and perceived speech among youth with cleft. The poorest outcomes were reported among those with the highest fistula rates, including an unrepaired alveolar cleft.

BACKGROUND: Despite the increasing use of nasoalveolar molding in early cleft treatment, questions remain about its effectiveness. This study examines clinician and caregiver appraisals of primary cleft lip and nasal reconstruction with and without nasoalveolar molding in a nonrandomized, prospective, multicenter study. METHODS: Participants were 110 infants with cleft lip/palate (62 treated with and 48 treated without nasoalveolar molding) and their caregivers seeking treatment at one of six high-volume cleft centers. Using the Extent of Difference Scale, standard photographs for a randomized subset of 54 infants were rated before treatment and after surgery by an expert clinician blinded to treatment group. Standard blocked and cropped photographs included frontal, basal, left, and right views of the infants. Using the same scale, caregivers rated their infants' lip, nose, and facial appearance compared with the general population of infants without clefts before treatment and after surgery. Multilevel modeling was used to model change in ratings of infants' appearance before treatment and after surgery. RESULTS: The expert clinician ratings indicated that nasoalveolar molding-treated infants had more severe clefts before treatment, yet both groups were rated equally after surgery. Nasoalveolar molding caregivers reported better postsurgery outcomes compared with no-nasoalveolar molding caregivers (p < 0.05), particularly in relation to the appearance of the nose. CONCLUSIONS: Despite having a more severe cleft before treatment, infants who underwent nasoalveolar molding were found by clinician ratings to have results comparable to those who underwent lip repair alone. Infants who underwent nasoalveolar molding were perceived by caregivers to have better treatment outcomes than those who underwent lip repair without nasoalveolar molding. CLINICAL QUESTION/LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Therapeutic, II.

BACKGROUND: We present an outcomes analysis of the surgical treatment of Robin sequence including all infants and comorbid conditions treated by tongue-lip adhesion (TLA) or mandibular distraction osteogenesis (MDO). METHODS: A 19-year single-institution, multisurgeon retrospective review of all syndromic and nonsyndromic neonates with Robin sequence treated with TLA (1994-2004) or MDO (2004-2013) was performed. Comorbid conditions were recorded in all patients. Outcomes include incidence of tracheostomy, improvement in obstructive breathing, and surgical complications. Need for repeat distraction and conversion from TLA to MDO were included as secondary end-points. Polysomnography data were recorded preoperatively at 1 month and 1 year as a measure of airway improvement. RESULTS: Seventy-four MDO patients and 15 TLA patients during the study period met inclusion criteria. There was no significant difference in mean age at intervention (32.1 +/- 29.0 vs 35.5 +/- 32.1 days), birth weight (2.9 +/- 0.7 vs 3.2 +/- 0.6 kg), prematurity (23.0 vs 35.7%), or intrauterine growth restriction (31.1 vs 15.4%). Central nervous system anomalies (24.3% vs 0.0%; P < 0.04) and gastrostomy tubes (66.2% vs 33.3%; P < 0.03) were present more frequently in MDO patients versus TLA patients. Rates of other organ system anomalies were similar between the groups. The success rate was significantly higher in the MDO group (90.5% vs 60.0%; P < 0.008). Postoperative tracheostomies occurred in 8.1% of the MDO group and 33.3% of the TLA group (P < 0.02). Preoperative apnea-hyponea index was similar between the two groups (38.3 vs 38.1). The apnea-hyponea index was significantly improved in the MDO group at 1 month (4.0 vs 21.7; P < 0.002) and 1 year (5.7 vs 20.5; P < 0.005). Surgical complications were statistically less in the MDO group (20.3 vs 53.3%; P < 0.02). CONCLUSIONS: In the heterogeneous population of Robin sequence, MDO demonstrates superior outcomes measures at 1 month and 1 year compared to TLA. Fewer complications occurred in the MDO group compared to the TLA.

Background & Purpose: We have produced a freely available, web-based, multimedia surgical simulator in partnership with Smile Train which demonstrates the cardinal procedures in primary cleft surgery. This tool is intended to help surgeons in developing countries care for their local cleft populations. Limitations of Internet access and local technology may hinder use in the developing world. We report on the international utilization of the world's first internet-based cleft simulator. Methods & Description: The Smile Train Virtual Surgery Simulator contains an internal tracking system which records the unique Internet Protocol (IP) addresses all users. Using these IP addresses, each country accessing the Simulator was identified over a one year period. All users accessing the Simulator for less than 5 minutes were eliminated. The countries were analyzed based upon economic factors such as Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and per capita income (PCI) as well as health metrics such as health expenditures and underweight children. Results: There were 849 novel users of the Simulator from 78 countries were recorded over the one-year study period. Those countries represent 6.28 billion persons or 88.5% of the global population. Of the countries utilizing the simulator 54 were classified as developing economies, representing 5.3 billion people. The developing countries average GDP was $467.4 +/- 147 billion and PCI was $8,281 +/- 815. The poorest developing countries accessing the Simulator in terms of PCI were Congo ($400), Ethiopia ($1,200), and Nepal ($1,300). In terms of percent population living below the poverty line, the poorest countries accessing the simulator were Haiti (80%) Congo (71%) and Nigeria (70%). In developing countries, the health expenditures as a percentage of GDP averaged 6.1%. The nations with the lowest healthcare expenditures as a percentage of GDP were Myanmar 2%, Pakistan 2.2%, and Indonesia 2.6%. Penetration into advanced economies was also extensive including 24 countries representing 979 million people and an aggregate GDP of $40.98 Trillion. In the United States the simulator was used in 40 states from both academic and community Internet service providers. Surprisingly, the simulator was used in 21 countries with active armed conflicts and 28 where the US State Department advises against travel including Ukraine, Egypt, Yemen, Iraq and Nigeria. Conclusions: The presented internet-based surgical simulator is accessible globally and has quickly gained use in 78 countries representing 88% of the global population including 5.3 billion of the worlds developing population. Over 2/3rds of the countries accessing the simulator are developing nations and include regions experiencing severe poverty. Projects directed towards international education of cleft care in the developing world should strongly consider the use of web-based digital technology as a means to immediately access and educate caregivers, particularly in countries with significant economic and political constraints. Disclosure: Receipt of Intellectual Property Rights/Patent Holder-Aaron Oilker holds the intellectual property rights for the biodigital surgery simulator