A retrospective comparison of craniofacial form in Northern Irish children with unilateral cleft lip and palate

Craniofacial morphology and soft tissue profile outcomes for complete unilateral and complete bilateral cleft lip and palate in New Zealand

OBJECTIVE

(a) To establish baseline lateral craniofacial morphology and soft tissue profile outcomes for New Zealand children with complete unilateral and complete bilateral cleft lip and palate (CUCLP/CBCLP) and determine differences in relation to demographic characteristics including cleft type, sex and ethnicity and (b) To compare these outcomes to similar international studies.

SETTINGS AND SAMPLE POPULATION

Nation-wide prospective and retrospective cephalometric analysis of 76 patients with CUCLP and 23 patients with CBCLP pre-secondary alveolar bone graft.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Assessment was undertaken by three experienced orthodontists blinded to patient identity. A total of 13 hard tissue and 8 soft tissue landmarks were identified allowing for an assessment of 16 angular, three linear and one ratio variables. Inter-assessor reliability was determined by pre-defined measurement error thresholds.

RESULTS

Inter-assessor reliability of cephalometric landmarks restricted reporting to 10 hard tissue, four soft tissue and one ratio variables. CUCLP had greater midface and mandibular retrusion than CBCLP. Females had greater midface and mandibular prominence and smaller nasal projections. The Pacific and Māori groups had more retrusive midfacial profiles, and the Pacific group had more prominent mandibles. A sub-analysis of New Zealand European CUCLP results found they were closely aligned to Eurocleft and Americleft study centres with less favourable outcomes.

CONCLUSIONS

The reliability of a number of cephalometric measurements was poor. Lateral craniofacial morphology and soft tissue profile outcomes varied between CUCLP/CBCLP, sex and ethnicity. The New Zealand European outcomes are similar to or less favourable to other studies.

Mean GOSLON Yardstick Scores After 3 Different Treatment Protocols—A Long-term Study of Patients With Unilateral Cleft Lip and Palate

Objectives:

(1) To evaluate dental arch relationships, with the Great Ormond Street, London and Oslo (GOSLON) Yardstick, of participants with Unilateral cleft lip and palate (UCLP) and treated with 1-stage palatal closure with 3 different surgical protocols (2) to compare the mean GOSLON ratings with other CLP centers.

Design:

Retrospective study of medical charts and dental models.

Setting:

Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden.

Participants:

Eighty-seven patients with UCLP operated with 1-stage palatal repair. Thirty-five were operated with Veau-Wardill-Kilner (VWK) technique 1975 to 1986, 31 with minimal incision technique (MIT) from 1987 to 1997, and 21 according to MIT with muscle reconstruction (MITmr) 1998 to 2004.

Interventions:

Dental casts at ages 5 (n = 87), 7 to 8 (n = 27), 10 (n = 81), 16 (n = 61), and 19 (n = 35) years were rated by 10 assessors with the GOSLON Yardstick. Information of other interventions was retrieved from patients’ charts.

Main outcome measures:

Mean GOSLON ratings.

Results:

A total of 82% of the participants were rated as having excellent to satisfactory outcome. Weighted κ statistics for the 10 assessors was good for inter-rater agreement and good/very good for intra-rater agreement.

Conclusions:

The mean GOSLON score in the Stockholm overall material at age 10 was 2.67. The VWK technique resulted in a greater need of orthognathic surgery than the MIT ( P < .01). The MITmr did not produce better dental arch relationships than MIT at age 5 ( P < .05). The best dental arch relationships were found in the MIT group at 10 years, mean 2.58, which is not significantly different from other centers with excellent outcome except Gothenburg and Vienna.

A Comparison of Craniofacial Form in Northern Irish Children with Unilateral Cleft Lip and Palate Treated with Different Primary Surgical Techniques

Objective

The quality of outcomes in patients with unilateral cleft lip and palate (UCLP) was compared between two senior plastic surgeons. One surgeon carried out a one-stage Wardill-Kilner palate repair. The other surgeon employed a vomer flap hard palate repair followed by a von Langenbeck soft palate closure (Oslo protocol).

Design

Retrospective analysis.

Patients

Thirty-four children (mean age 9.7 years) born with complete skeletal UCLP in Northern Ireland from 1983 to 1991 who received primary repair surgery from one of the two surgeons.

Main Outcome Measures

Cephalometric analysis was used to determine the craniofacial form and soft tissue profile. The quality of the dental arch relationships was independently assessed using the Goslon ranking system.

Results

Twenty-nine of the 34 subjects had good or satisfactory arch relationships. Comparison between the surgeons revealed that the Wardill-Kilner group had a greater proportion of Goslon grades of greater than 3, indicating poor arch relationships. However, this difference failed to reach statistical significance. There were no significant cephalometric differences between patients treated by the two surgeons.

Conclusions

Although the difference was not statistically significant, the highest proportion of patients likely to require orthognathic surgery was found in those treated using the Wardill-Kilner technique.

Predictive validity of the GOSLON Yardstick index in patients with unilateral cleft lip and palate: A systematic review

Among the various indices developed for measuring the results of treatment in patients born with unilateral cleft lip and palate (UCLP), the GOSLON Yardstick index is the most widely used to assess the efficacy of treatment and treatment outcomes, which in UCLP cases are closely linked to jaw growth. The aim of this study was to conduct a systematic review to validate the predictability of growth using the GOSLON Yardstick in patients born with UCLP. A systematic literature review was conducted in four Internet databases: Medline, Cochrane Library, Scopus and Embase, complemented by a manual search and a further search in the databases of the leading journals that focus on this topic. An electronic search was also conducted among grey literature. The search identified a total of 131 articles. Duplicated articles were excluded and after reading titles and abstracts, any articles not related to the research objective were excluded, leaving a total of 21 texts. After reading the complete text, only three articles fulfilled the inclusion criteria. The results showed a predictive validity of between 42.2% and 64.7%, which points to a lack of evidence in the literature for the predictive validity of the GOSLON Yardstick index used in children born with UCLP.

Nasopharyngeal Airway Volume for Different GOSLON Scores in Patients with Unilateral Cleft Lip and Palate

Objective

The aim of this study is to evaluate the nasopharyngeal airway volumes of patients with unilateral cleft lip and palate (UCLP) with different GOSLON scores.

Methods

The study sample consisted of 34 patients with UCLP and 20 controls with no cleft history. In the UCLP group, three experienced examiners used the GOSLON Yardstick to rate dental arch relationships, and the sample was divided into three groups as GOSLON 2 (G2) (n = 13), GOSLON 3 (G3) (n = 10), and GOSLON 4 (G4) (n = 11). Airway volumes were constructed using three-dimensional computed tomography data and divided into four compartments named the nasal airway, and superior, middle, and inferior pharyngeal airways.

Results

No statistically significant difference was detected among G2, G3, and G4 between the constitutive airway departments of the nasopharyngeal region. However, nasal airway volumes were significantly higher in the control group when compared with the UCLP group.

Discussion

Although there was no correlation among the investigated parameters, it is also a fact that airway capacities display a great variability among patients when investigated three dimensionally.

Conclusion

Although the severity of GOSLON scores might predetermine the extent of which the airways are affected from the cleft, a larger sample size is needed in future studies.

Craniofacial morphology in complete unilateral cleft lip and palate patients consecutively treated with 1-stage repair of the cleft

OBJECTIVE

To retrospectively evaluate the craniofacial morphology of children with a complete unilateral cleft lip and palate treated with a 1-stage simultaneous cleft repair performed in the first year of life.

METHODS

Cephalograms and extraoral profile photographs of 61 consecutively treated patients (42 boys, 19 girls) who had been operated on at 9.2 (SD, 2.0) months by a single experienced surgeon were analyzed at 11.4 (SD, 1.5) years. The noncleft control group comprised 81 children (43 boys and 38 girls) of the same ethnicity at the age of 10.4 (SD, 0.5) years.

RESULTS

In children with cleft, the maxilla and mandible were retrusive; the palatal and mandibular planes were more open, and sagittal maxillomandibular relationship was less favorable in comparison to noncleft control subjects. Soft tissues in patients with cleft reflected retrusive morphology of hard tissues--subnasal and supramental regions were less convex, profile was flatter, and nasolabial angle was more acute relative to those of the control subjects.

CONCLUSIONS

Craniofacial morphology after 1-stage repair was deviated in comparison with noncleft control subjects. However, the degree of deviation was comparable with that found after treatment with alternative surgical protocols.

Dental Arch Relationship in Children with Complete Unilateral Cleft Lip and Palate following Warsaw (One-Stage Repair) and Oslo Protocols

Objective:

To compare the dental arch relationship following one-stage repair of unilateral cleft lip and palate (UCLP) in Warsaw with a matched sample of patients treated by the Oslo Cleft Team.

Material:

Study models of 61 children (mean age, 11.2; SD, 1.7) with a nonsyndromic complete UCLP consecutively treated with one-stage closure of the cleft at 9.2 months (range, 6.0 to 15.8 months; SD, 2.0) by the Warsaw Cleft Team at the Institute of Mother and Child, Poland, were compared with a sample drawn from a consecutive series of patients with UCLP treated by the Oslo Cleft Team and matched for age, gender, and soft tissue band.

Methods:

The study models were given random numbers to blind their origin. Four examiners rated the dental arch relationship using the GOSLON Yardstick. The strength of agreement of rating was assessed with weighted Kappa statistics. An independent t-test was carried out to compare the GOSLON scores between Warsaw and Oslo samples, and Fisher's exact tests were performed to evaluate the difference of distribution of the GOSLON scores.

Results:

The intrarater and interrater agreements were high (K ≥ .800). No difference in dental arch relationship between Warsaw and Oslo groups was found (mean GOSLON score  =  2.68 and 2.65 for Warsaw and Oslo samples, respectively). The distribution of the GOSLON grades was similar in both groups.

Conclusions:

The dental arch relationship following one-stage repair (Warsaw protocol) was comparable with the outcome of the Oslo Cleft Team's protocol.

Treatment Outcome after One-Stage Repair in Children with Complete Unilateral Cleft Lip and Palate Assessed with the Goslon Yardstick

Objective:

To compare results of Golson Yardstick measurement of dental arch relationships in a sample of 10-year-old Polish children with results of the Golson measurement in published reports.

Materials and Methods:

Plaster models of 28 consecutively treated subjects with unilateral cleft lip and palate (UCLP) that was repaired with a one-stage simultaneous closure performed in the first year of life. All individuals were born between 1994 and 1995. The Goslon score (categories 1 to 5) was allocated. Intra- and interrater agreement was assessed with kappa statistics and Pearson correlation coefficient. Independent t tests were employed to detect difference between the score in the present and other published samples.

Results:

Mean Goslon score equaled 2.44; 57% of the patients were allocated Goslon category 1 or 2, 32% were rated Goslon 3, and 11% of the patients were assigned category 4 or 5. Intrarater agreement was between 0.75 and 0.77. Interrater agreement was 0.79.

Conclusions:

Dental arch relationship following one-stage repair was comparable with the results of the centers with the best outcome.

Midfacial Growth in a Consecutive Series of Preadolescent Children with Complete Unilateral Cleft Lip and Palate following a One-Stage Simultaneous Repair

Objective:

To evaluate midfacial growth in prepubertal children with complete unilateral cleft lip and palate following one-stage simultaneous repair.

Subjects:

A series of 28 consecutively treated subjects with complete unilateral cleft lip and palate were compared with age- and gender-matched controls with normal midfacial structure.

Methods:

On the lateral cephalograms taken at the age of approximately 10 years, size and position of the maxilla and upper dental arch were evaluated in vertical and horizontal planes. Statistical analysis included independent t tests and nonparametric Mann-Whitney tests.

Results:

The maxilla was found to be retruded (sella-nasion-point A angle decreased by 4.5° and nasion to point A distance increased by 4.2 mm) and rotated posteriorly (sella-nasion/palatal plane angle decreased by 4.5°) in the cleft group. Maxillary length (pterygomaxillare-point A distance) was diminished by approximately 2 mm. Upper incisors were found retroclined in comparison to controls (both upper incisor axis/sella-nasion and upper incisor axis/palatal plane angles were decreased by 10.7° and 6.1°, respectively).

Conclusion:

Maxillary prominence, as measured with the sella-nasion-point A angle and the condylion-point A and articulare-point A distances, was decreased. Shortened length and posterior position of the maxillary body were responsible at a ratio of 60% to 40% for a decreased prominence of the maxillary complex. The palatal plane demonstrated a larger inclination to the sella-nasion plane by 4.5° due to a decreased sella-posterior nasal spine distance.

Mandibular Morphology and Spatial Position following One-Stage Simultaneous Repair of Complete Unilateral Cleft Lip and Palate

Objective:

To assess mandibular structure and spatial position following one-stage simultaneous repair of the unilateral cleft lip and palate.

Design:

Forty boys and 17 girls with complete unilateral cleft lip and palate who underwent one-stage simultaneous repair of the cleft by the same surgeon at the age of 9.23 months (standard deviation  =  1.74) were selected. Lateral cephalograms taken at the age of approximately 10 years were analyzed and were compared with a sex- and age-matched control group that consisted of individuals with Angle Class I, no crossbite, positive overbite <5 mm, mild crowding (Incisor Irregularity Index <3.5 mm), and harmonious facial build.

Results:

No intergroup differences were demonstrated regarding structure of the cranial base. The mandible was found to be retruded and at a larger inclination to the cranial base as compared with controls. Both total mandibular length (ArGn) and length of the mandibular body were larger in the control group, at <2 mm. Height of the ramus and gonial angle were similar in both groups. Intergender comparison showed few significant differences in control subjects only (SN, SGo, and NMe variables).

Conclusions:

The mandible, following a one-stage simultaneous repair of cleft, was found to be retrusive, and the length of mandibular body was <2 mm shorter than that of the controls.

The Goslon Yardstick in Patients with Unilateral Cleft Lip and Palate: Review of a Vienna Sample

Objective:

To compare a Vienna unilateral cleft lip and palate (UCLP) patient sample with the Eurocleft samples using the GOSLON score, to determine the intra- and interrater agreement between several raters and ratings, and to establish whether training with the original GOSLON models enhances accuracy.

Patients and Methods:

One hundred twenty-three plaster casts of UCLP patients born between 1970 and 1997, with an average age of 9.2 years and all treated with the same regimen, were rated according to the GOSLON score.

Results:

Of the patients, 71.5% were ranked GOSLON 1 or 2. Only 8.9% were rated GOSLON 4 or 5. There were no significant differences between the different raters and the ratings. Training with the original GOSLON models increased kappa from 0.57 before training to 0.84 after training.

Conclusion:

The “Vienna concept” was found to be a good regimen for treating UCLP patients in regard to maxillary growth. Personal training on the original GOSLON models appears to improve the accuracy of rating.

Treatment outcome in unilateral cleft lip and palate evaluated with the GOSLON yardstick: a meta-analysis of 1236 patients

BACKGROUND

The goal of this study was to assess determinants for treatment outcome in unilateral cleft lip and palate, evaluated according to the Great Ormond Street London and Oslo (GOSLON) Yardstick and 5-year-index ratings by means of a meta-analysis.

METHODS

Multiple databases were searched for publications in which patient groups were evaluated by GOSLON ranking or the GOSLON-like 5-year index. From the 15 selected publications, the following background variables could be extracted and were evaluated as determinants for treatment outcome in unilateral cleft lip and palate: year of birth, average age of the patient at the time of GOSLON classification, racial background, presence of Simonart's band, infant orthopedics, palatal closure before the age of 3 versus palatal closure at a later age, bone graft, and number of surgeons.

RESULTS

The total number of patients included in the meta-analysis was 1236. Patients whose soft and hard palate were closed before the age of 3 presented significantly poorer (p = 0.003) GOSLON scores (mean score, 2.9; SD 0.4) than patients whose palate was closed at a later age (mean GOSLON score, 2.3; SD 0.2).

CONCLUSIONS

Delayed palatal closure generally results in better dental arch relationships than early palatal closure. Well-designed, randomized clinical trials are required for further investigation of the optimal timing for palatal closure.