title: Ultrasonography in the evaluation of midpalatal suture in surgically assisted rapid maxillary expansion.
abstract: Surgically assisted rapid maxillary expansion (SARME), which combines orthodontics and surgery, is a well-established therapy for transverse maxillary hypoplasia in adults after sutural closure or completion of skeletal maturation. X-rays are usually the preferred monitoring technique for this treatment. Recently, ultrasound scanning has been used successfully in the follow-up of patients undergoing distraction osteogenesis. In this study, ultrasonography (US) was used in the evaluation of bone callus formation in the midpalatal suture in 3 patients undergoing SARME. For each patient, US was performed immediately after active expansion, at 2 and 4 months of the expansion period, at the removal of the expander 6 months later, and at 2 months after expander removal. The results indicated that US might be a useful and accurate method to assess bone fill in the midpalatal suture in patients undergoing SARME. However, further studies are necessary to clarify the US scores in a larger patient group undergoing SARME.
authors.affiliation: Department of Dentomaxillofacial Radiology, Faculty of Dentistry, University of Ondokuz Mayis, Samsun, Turkey. psumer1970@yahoo.com
authors.forename: A Pinar
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Sumer
authors.forename: Mete
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ozer
authors.forename: Mahmut
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sumer
authors.forename: Murat
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Danaci
authors.forename: Fuat
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Tokalak
authors.forename: N Tuba
authors.initials: NT
authors.lastname: Telcioglu
mesh_terms: D003393:Cranial Sutures / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D006801:Humans; D008437:Maxilla / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000601:surgery*; D010027:Osteotomy / Q000379:methods; D010155:Palatal Expansion Technique; D021362:Palate, Hard / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000601:surgery*; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014463:Ultrasonography