title: The Americleft study: an inter-center study of treatment outcomes for patients with unilateral cleft lip and palate part 4. Nasolabial aesthetics.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To compare the nasolabial aesthetics for individuals with nonsyndromic complete unilateral cleft lip and palate between the ages of 5 and 12 years.
  
  
  METHODS
  Retrospective cross-sectional study.
  
  
  METHODS
  Four cleft centers in North America.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 124 subjects with repaired complete unilateral cleft lip and palate who were treated at the four centers.
  
  
  METHODS
  After ethics approval was obtained, 124 preorthodontic frontal and profile patient images were scanned, cropped to show the nose and upper lip, and coded. Using the coded images, four nasolabial features that reflect aesthetics (i.e., nasal symmetry, nasal form, vermilion border, and nasolabial profile) were rated by five examiners using the rating system reported by Asher-McDade et al. (1991) . Intrarater and interrater reliabilities were determined using weighted kappa statistics. Mean ratings, by center, were compared using analysis of variance.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Intrarater reliability scores were good to very good and interrater reliability scores were moderate to good. Total nasolabial scores were Center B = 2.98, Center C = 3.02, Center D = 2.80, and Center E = 2.87. No statistically significant differences among centers were detected for both total aesthetic scores and for any of the individual aesthetic components.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  There were no significant differences in nasolabial aesthetics among the centers evaluated. Overall good to fair nasolabial aesthetic results were achieved using the different treatment protocols in the four North American centers.
authors.affiliation: Division of Orthodontics, College of Dentistry, The Ohio State University, Columbus, USA.
authors.forename: Ana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mercado
authors.forename: Kathleen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Russell
authors.forename: Ronald
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Hathaway
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Daskalogiannakis
authors.forename: Hani
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sadek
authors.forename: Ross E
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: Long
authors.forename: Marilyn
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cohen
authors.forename: Gunvor
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Semb
authors.forename: William
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Shaw
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D002971:Cleft Lip / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000601:surgery*; D002972:Cleft Palate / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000601:surgery*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004954:Esthetics; D005146:Facial Asymmetry / Q000151:congenital*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008046:Lip; D008297:Male; D009656:North America / Q000453:epidemiology; D009666:Nose; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D012107:Research Design; D012189:Retrospective Studies