An anatomical study of the three-dimensional structure of the nasal septum in patients with alveolar clefts and alveolar-palatal clefts.
BACKGROUND
The present study was performed to quantitatively analyze the three-dimensional morphology of the nasal septa of patients with alveolar and alveolopalatal clefts.


METHODS
Twenty-five unilateral complete cleft lip patients with alveolar clefts only (alveolar cleft group) and 35 unilateral complete cleft lip patients with alveolar and palatal clefts (alveolar and palatal cleft group) were included in the study. Although no patient in either group had undergone alveoloplasty, all patients had undergone palatoplasty. The degree of nasal septum deviation was studied for each patient at three different depths along the anteroposterior axis using three-dimensional computed tomographic data; the data were compared between the two groups to elucidate whether the difference in cleft type affects the morphologic patterns of the nasal septum.


RESULTS
The nasal septa of the alveolar and palatal cleft group patients presented more uneven morphologic patterns than those of the alveolar cleft group patients. In the alveolar cleft group, the nasal septa did not present significantly different degrees of deviation at their anterior and posterior parts. In the alveolar and palatal cleft group, however, the posterior parts of the nasal septa presented greater deviation than the anterior parts. In the alveolar and palatal cleft group, furthermore, a significant correlation was observed between the severity of the cleft and the degree of the nasal septum deviation.


CONCLUSIONS
The nasal septa present different three-dimensional morphologic patterns between the patients with alveolar clefts only and those with alveolopalatal clefts. This difference should be considered when performing surgical treatments for these patients.
Tokyo, Japan; and Shanghai, China From the Departments of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery and Otorhinolaryngology, School of Medicine, Keio University; and the Department of Plastic Surgery, Changzheng Hospital, Second Military Medical University.
Tomohisa
T
Nagasao
Junpei
J
Miyamoto
Shohei
S
Yasuda
Hisao
H
Ogata
Yorihisa
Y
Imanishi
Xiaohai
X
Zhu
Hua
H
Jiang
Kaoru
K
Ogawa
Tatsuo
T
Nakajima
D000367:Age Factors; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002971:Cleft Lip / Q000150:complications / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000601:surgery; D002972:Cleft Palate / Q000150:complications / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000601:surgery; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D009300:Nasal Septum / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D011336:Probability; D019651:Plastic Surgery Procedures / Q000379:methods; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D018570:Risk Assessment; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed; D016896:Treatment Outcome