Facial growth and morphology of cleft lip and/or palate patients after corrective surgery according to P.I.S.A. technique

Cleft lip and/or palate patients (CLP) undergo corrective surgery that can affect facial growth. The aim of this study was to analyze facial growth and maxillary development of CLP subjects after surgery according to P.I.S.A. technique (Peri osteoplasty Improves Symmetry and Aesthetic). Cephalometric tracings of 55 patients were performed, thirty-three of which belonged to the test group, while the lasting twenty subjects were part of the control group. The test group was formed by cleft lip and/or palate patients after surgical repair according to P.I.S.A. technique. The control group included patients unaffected by this malformation, with an Angle's first class, selected from the Michigan Growth Study sample. Facial growth and upper maxilla development analysis was carried out by comparing the data obtained from the cephalometric traces of cleft patients who performed an early surgery, with the values of the same parameters measured in non-cleft subjects, providing the normal values. The results of this study showed, in the test group, a maxillary and mandibular bi-retrusion, a more negative facial convexity, the absence of a marked discrepancy in the skeletal relationships, a slight tendency towards hyper-divergence.