title: The posterior coronal incision.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The coronal incision is a standard surgical approach in craniofacial surgery. It has undergone many modifications during the years in an attempt to optimize the esthetic appearance of the scar, including the sawtooth "stealth incision" and the sinusoidal incision.
  
  
  METHODS
  We describe an alternative coronal approach extending posteriorly from the postauricular region over the occiput, resulting in an axial scar.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The posterior coronal incision provides equivalent exposure of the craniofacial skeleton while placing the scar in an esthetically optimal location that is much more likely to be camouflaged by hair, especially in patients with thinning hair or male-pattern baldness. It avoids a vertical temporal scar that is prone to widening and also allows the incision to be placed remotely from any neurosurgical hardware in the frontotemporal region. It may be used in craniofacial or neurosurgical procedures requiring access to the posterior or anterior cranial vaults or the upper craniofacial skeleton down to the maxillary alveolar rim.
authors.affiliation: From the *Section of Plastic Surgery, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut; and †Craniofacial Unit, Department of Pediatric Neurosurgery, Hôpital Necker-Enfants Malades, Paris, France.
authors.forename: Sabrina Nicole
authors.initials: SN
authors.lastname: Pavri
authors.forename: Eric
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Arnaud
authors.forename: Dominique
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Renier
authors.forename: John A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Persing
mesh_terms: D002921:Cicatrix / Q000517:prevention & control; D004954:Esthetics; D005624:Frontal Bone / Q000601:surgery; D006197:Hair / Q000254:growth & development; D006801:Humans; D019635:Neurosurgical Procedures / Q000295:instrumentation; D009777:Occipital Bone / Q000601:surgery*; D019651:Plastic Surgery Procedures / Q000379:methods*; D013701:Temporal Bone / Q000601:surgery