A classification and construction of congenital lateral facial clefts.

BACKGROUND The repair of the lateral or transverse facial cleft is a surgical challenge on the account of the abnormal positioning and appearance of the cleft. MATERIALS AND METHODS Over a twenty-seven year period, 22 lateral facial cleft cases were evaluated at a cleft lip (CL) and palate clinic and seven children underwent reconstruction of the lateral CL. RESULTS Twenty-two of 3187 (0.69%) cases presented with a lateral CL. Five of these 22 cases (23%) had a bilateral, eight (36%) had a right-sided and nine (41%) had a left-sided cleft. The evaluation of these cases resulted in a new classification (namely an extension of the Tessier 7 cleft) classification for the cutaneous and muscle involvement: a superior (T7.1), middle (T7.2), inferior (T7.3) and agenetic (T7.4) lateral CL. The altered surgical construction: an internal mucosal straight-line closure, a curved cutaneous-mucosal red-lip/vermilion-lined flap for the lip commissure, muscle reconstruction at the modiolus and a positional cutaneous z-plasty for the rare lateral cutaneous cleft. CONCLUSION The paper introduced a new classification for the lateral CL, as well as an altered surgical reconstructive technique for the most natural functioning of the lateral part of the face.