Faculty Bibliography

Lengthening of the mandible by gradual distraction was performed on four young patients (average age 78 months). The amount of mandibular bone lengthening ranged from 18 to 24 mm; one patient with Nager's syndrome underwent bilateral mandibular expansion. Following the period of expansion, the patients were maintained in external fixation for an average of 9 weeks to allow ossification. The patients were followed for a minimum of 11 months to a maximum of 20 months with clinical and dental examinations as well as photographic and radiographic documentation. The technique holds promise for early reconstruction of craniofacial skeletal defects without the need for bone grafts, blood transfusion, or intermaxillary fixation

A method for generating three-dimensional landmark locations from routine biplane pairs of cephalograms was previously introduced. In this article we compare the locations thus reconstructed to the same configurations as directly recorded through a redundant network of interpoint distances measured with calipers. Six mandibular landmarks were located by both methods on each of 10 dry skulls. With the caliper distances is associated a standard error that can be estimated without explicit remeasurement by the method of 'adjustment of networks' familiar from surveying. These standard errors are consistent with the remeasurement error both of the caliper measurements and of the stereolocation from cephalograms; the methods appear to have the same precision, about 0.4 mm per distance. The bias (systematic shift) of the biplane reconstructions with respect to the points used for laying down the calipers may be estimated by regressions of distance discrepancies on the direction cosines of the separations between pairs of landmarks. The caliper tips placed condylion approximately 10 mm medially and a bit forward of where we chose to reconstruct it from biplane cephalograms. The caliper locations of gonion average about 1.6 mm back of their cephalometric position, while those at menton and lower incisal edge are forward by some 1.4 mm. We conclude that the biplane reconstruction (the 'three-dimensional cephalogram') is sufficiently accurate for routine clinical and surgical application

This is a longitudinal study of 12 patients with craniofacial synostosis syndromes (Crouzon's, Apert's, Pfeiffer's) who underwent Le Fort III advancement under the age of 7 years (average age 5.1 years, range 4.0 to 6.7 years). The average follow-up was 5.0 years and included clinical, dental, and cephalometric examinations according to a prescribed protocol. The study demonstrated that the procedure could be safely performed in the younger child with an acceptable level of morbidity. There was a remarkable degree of postoperative stability of the maxillary segment. However, although vertical (inferior) growth or movement of the midfacial segment was demonstrated, there was minimal, if any, anterior or horizontal growth. Any occlusal disharmony developing during the period of follow-up could be attributed to anticipated mandibular development and could be corrected by orthognathic surgery. The roles of surgical overcorrection and anterior-pull headgear therapy after release of intermaxillary fixation are also discussed. The Le Fort III osteotomy is justifiably indicated during early childhood for psychological and physiologic reasons

A protocol for cephalometric analysis is presented to enable the clinician to evaluate the craniofacial skeleton for surgery. Cephalometric tracing and analysis are described and applied to a clinical case. The three-dimensional cephalometric method and analysis are discussed for application in planning the correction of craniofacial asymmetry

The Broadbent-Bolton cephalostat produces intrinsically three-dimensional information about cranial form. Yet in the clinical setting, this information has been used primarily two dimensions at a time in the separate study of lateral or posteroanterior cephalograms. In this article we demonstrate an expedient use of existing cephalostat-based data sets to derive certain analyses of three-dimensional form. The technique is essentially the same as that of the Broadbent-Bolton 'Orientator,' an exploitation of the geometry of the cephalostat to simulate stereophotogrammetry. The three-dimensional method supports the usual biometrics of landmark locations, and takes advantage of a normative data base that is suited for semiautomatic analysis of syndromic data. The principal drawback of the method is its inability to represent curving form in three dimensions. However, in comparison with computed tomography (CT), it involves low radiation dose, is simpler to obtain, has an available normative data base, and is more practical for quantitative or long-term serial analysis

This study was designed to elucidate the net 'effect' of primary and secondary palatal clefts on the craniofacial skeleton as viewed in the lateral cephalogram. A tensor cephalometric analysis is reported for 144 patients with cleft lip, cleft palate, or both. The study involves 13 lateral landmarks located in the patients' cephalograms and in the Michigan normative means. The net deformity (total sample) is a reduction of size in all directions, but primarily in the horizontal dimension (ANS-PNS) at the palatal level. Lower face height is affected less than upper face height. The bilateral group shows a considerably greater amount of 'net' deformity in the cranial base and reduction in mandibular body length. The effect of cleft of the secondary palate alone is horizontal. The effect of an additional primary cleft is aligned instead vertically in the maxilla and intensifies the reduction of cranial base depth. These findings concur with the literature that attributes these syndromes to different mechanisms with different modes of inheritance

The desire to apply the scientific method to aesthetic facial surgery is the underpinning of this article, which summarizes the attempts that have been made to apply numeric methods to facial surgery, with particular emphasis on computer methods

A computer program is described which aids the clinician in planning craniofacial surgical procedures. It operates on a three-dimensional landmark data base derived by combining posteroanterior and lateral cephalograms from the patient and from the Bolton normative standards. A three-dimensional surgical simulation program based on computerized tomographic (CT) data is also described which can be linked to the cephalometrically based program. After the clinician has selected the number and type of osteotomies to be performed on the patient, an automated optimization program computes the postoperative positions of these fragments which best fit the appropriate normal cephalometric form. The clinician then interactively modifies the design to account for such variables as bone-graft resorption, relapse tendency, occlusal disparities, and the condition of the overlying soft-tissue matrix. Osteotomy movement specifications are easily transferred between the CT-based and the cephalometrically based surgical simulation programs. This allows the automated positioning step to be performed on the cephalometrically based model while the interactive step is performed using the superior image provided by the CT-based model

The lower border of the mandible in mandibulofacial dysostosis is characteristic of the syndrome. Evaluation of the cephalograms by means of the medial axis analysis and inflectional tangents captures the shape deformity. Morphometric data from lateral cephalograms on seven patients, ages 3 through 20 years, are reported: a total of 22 observations on three males and four females. These forms were compared to normal mandibular forms from the University of Michigan University School Study. The curvature of the gonial angle in the study population is not distinguishable from the normal curvature. Relative to this apparently normal region, there is a marked downward displacement of the symphysis that results in the curvature typical of the lower mandibular border in this syndrome. These findings are not consistent with earlier reports