title: Computed tomography of alveolar bone grafts 20 years after repair of unilateral cleft lip and palate.
abstract: The aim of this study was to estimate the clinical condition and amount of remaining grafted bone 20 years after final repair of unilateral cleft lip and palate. Eighteen consecutive patients had computed tomograms (CT) and clinical examination 20 years or more after secondary bone grafting which had been done at ages of 7-11 years. The images were obtained with a spiral CT with 1 mm collimation, and reconstructed as three-dimensional volumes with reformatted cut planes. The area of grafted bone was measured in a plane perpendicular to the curved axis of the alveolar arch and compared with the area corresponding section through the non-cleft side. The clinical examination showed satisfactory results in all. CT indicated a mean cross sectional area of 97 mm2 on the cleft side compared with 157 mm2 on the non-cleft side. The bone mass was significantly less on the grafted cleft side (p < 0.001), but the functional results were satisfactory.
authors.affiliation: Department of Plastic Surgery, Rikshospitalet, Oslo, Norway. alf.kolbenstvedt@rikshospitalet.no
authors.forename: Kjartan
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Arctander
authors.forename: Alf
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kolbenstvedt
authors.forename: Trond Mogens
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Aaløkken
authors.forename: Frank
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Abyholm
authors.forename: Kathrine Frey
authors.initials: KF
authors.lastname: Frøslie
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D016025:Bone Transplantation; D002648:Child; D002971:Cleft Lip / Q000601:surgery*; D002972:Cleft Palate / Q000601:surgery*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008437:Maxilla / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000601:surgery*; D011184:Postoperative Period; D013997:Time Factors; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed; D019737:Transplants