Publications by authors named "Joseph S Gruss"

Background: Cleft lip results in disruption of the nasal foundation and collapse of tip structures. Most approaches to primary rhinoplasty focus on correction of lower lateral cartilages; however, recurrent deformity is common, and secondary revision is frequently required. The authors describe an alternate approach that focuses on the foundation to "upright the nose," without any nasal tip dissection.

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Background: The authors' purpose was to quantify the change in unicoronal synostosis symmetry between presentation (time 0), after fronto-orbital advancement (time 1), and 2 years later (time 2).

Methods: Bandeau/orbital symmetry ratios and skull base/midface twists were measured on computed tomographic scans of consecutive isolated unicoronal synostosis patients. Comparisons were made across three time points and against normal controls.

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We report RNA-Sequencing results on a cohort of patients with single suture craniosynostosis and demonstrate significant enrichment of heterozygous, rare, and damaging variants among key craniosynostosis-related genes. Genetic burden analysis identified a significant increase in damaging variants in ATR, EFNA4, ERF, MEGF8, SCARF2, and TGFBR2. Of 391 participants, 15% were found to have damaging and potentially causal variants in 29 genes.

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Article Synopsis
  • - Isolated frontosphenoidal synostosis (FS) and isolated unicoronal synostosis (UC) can both cause fronto-orbital plagiocephaly, but they present with different orbital shapes and require distinct surgical corrections.
  • - This study involved a retrospective evaluation of FS patients who underwent surgery, comparing their results with age-matched UC patients, focusing on pre- and postoperative orbital shape and volume using imaging software.
  • - The findings indicated that FS orbits were significantly wider, shorter, and shallower than UC orbits, but surgery effectively equalized most of these differences except for the width of UC orbits, which remained narrower post-op.
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  • Participants will learn how to accurately diagnose zygomaticomaxillary complex fractures through physical exams and imaging studies.
  • The article outlines surgical strategies for treating these fractures, tailoring approaches based on the severity of each case.
  • Additionally, it emphasizes the importance of understanding the complex three-dimensional anatomy of the zygomaticomaxillary region and highlights potential complications during reconstruction.*
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  • Crowdsourcing was explored as a method to assess aesthetic outcomes of unilateral cleft lip, focusing on how reliable and convenient this approach could be compared to traditional expert evaluations.
  • A study involved 50 photographs of children (with and without unilateral cleft lip) assessed by thousands of layperson evaluations through two different ranking systems (Elo rank and Asher-McDade).
  • Results showed that crowd evaluations were consistent and correlated strongly with expert ratings, while being completed much faster, indicating that crowdsourcing can effectively enhance the assessment of treatment outcomes for unilateral cleft lip.
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Introduction: Single Suture Craniosynostosis (SSC) occurs in 1 in 2,500 live births and is the most common type of craniosynostosis treated in most centers. Surgical treatment has evolved over the past century and open techniques are tailored to the specific suture type. Additionally, the concept of multi-disciplinary team care has proliferated and is becoming the standard of care for SSC.

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  • Neurofibromatosis affects 1 in 2500 to 3000 births and often requires a multidisciplinary approach for management, especially when it involves the head and neck, where plastic surgeons play a key role.
  • A 20-year study reviewed 59 surgical patients with head and neck neurofibroma, categorizing them into five types to aid in diagnosis and treatment.
  • The study emphasizes a new surgical classification system, discusses the detailed management of cranioorbital cases, and highlights safe techniques for preserving the facial nerve during surgery, even in extensive neck cases previously deemed inoperable.
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Background: Standard clinical pathways are well established for children with cleft lip and/or palate. Treatment of internationally adopted children differs because of the late age at presentation, a newly evolving child-family relationship, and variable extent and quality of previous treatment.

Methods: The authors characterized the presentation and treatment patterns of all internationally adopted children with clefts at their institution between 1997 and 2011.

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The bilateral cleft lip and nasal deformity presents a complex challenge for repair. Surgical techniques continue to evolve and are focused on primary anatomic realignment of the tissues. This can be accomplished in a single-stage or two-stage repair early in infancy to provide a foundation for future growth of the lip and nasal tissue.

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Frontonasal Dysplasia (FND) and Oculo-auriculo-vertebral spectrum (OAVS) are two well-recognized clinical entities. With features of both FND and OAVS, the term oculoauriculofrontonasal syndrome (OAFNS) was coined in 1981. The OAFNS phenotype combines elements of abnormal morphogenesis of the frontonasal and maxillary process (derived from forebrain neural crest) with abnormal development of the first and second branchial arches (derived from hindbrain neural crest).

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Introduction: The metopic suture is the only calvarial suture which normally closes during infancy. Upon closure, a palpable and visible ridge often forms which can be confused with metopic craniosynostosis. Metopic ridging (MR) is treated nonsurgically while metopic craniosynostosis (MCS) is treated surgically.

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Background: Zygomaticomaxillary complex fractures associated with ipsilateral naso-orbito-ethmoidal fractures are more complex injuries than isolated zygomaticomaxillary complex fractures. This injury pattern can have significant long-term morbidity if not recognized and treated appropriately during the initial operation. The purpose of this study is to compare mechanisms of injury, treatment, and outcome between patients with zygomaticomaxillary complex fractures and those with zygomaticomaxillary complex and ipsilateral naso-orbito-ethmoidal fractures.

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  • A study looked at whether frontal bossing in patients with sagittal synostosis needs surgery or improves on its own after cranial expansion.
  • The research involved 43 young patients, measuring changes in their frontal bone structure before and two years after the procedure compared to healthy control groups.
  • Results showed that frontal bossing significantly decreased in patients over two years, with most aligning within normal ranges, and noted that older patients experienced more compensatory growth prior to surgery.
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Background: Repair of wide primary cleft palates and secondary cases are challenging. Much literature is dedicated to technique modifications and useful pearls for approaching these patients. Nasal lining is not often highlighted or addressed as a solution to these challenging cleft palate surgeries.

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Objective: To determine whether placement of a bupivacaine-soaked absorbable sponge (BAS) in addition to bupivacaine infiltration at the anterior iliac crest (AIC) donor site alters postoperative pain for children undergoing alveolar bone grafting (ABG) for cleft lip with or without cleft palate (CL+/-P). The comparison group received only bupivacaine infiltration (NO BAS) at the AIC.

Design: Retrospective cohort.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study analyzed 12 children with unilateral lambdoid synostosis, focusing on clinical observations and computed tomographic (CT) scan measurements for consistency.
  • Key clinical findings like mastoid cant and inferior ear position aligned with CT measurements, but discrepancies occurred with ear positioning and head shape.
  • Despite observing the fusion of sutures in all cases, there was no correlation between the degree of skull deformity and the extent of suture fusion.
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Background: Most craniosynostosis cases are treated by cranial expansion before 1 year of age. Occasionally, patients present at a later age with nonspecific symptoms of increased intracranial pressure. The purpose of this study was to review the symptoms of patients undergoing late cranial vault expansion.

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Objective: In this article, we review the normal anatomy and development of the posterior skull base and describe distinguishing imaging features of the two most common causes of posterior plagiocephaly: posterior deformational plagiocephaly and unilateral lambdoid synostosis. We also describe three unusual cases of posterior plagiocephaly, including asymmetric premature fusion of the anterior and posterior intraoccipital synchondroses, with diagnoses enabled by volume-reformatted MDCT.

Conclusion: Three-dimensional reformatted MDCT enables accurate diagnosis of common and rare causes of posterior plagiocephaly in children.

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Epidermal nevus syndrome (ENS) is a rare, sporadic, congenital disorder of unknown etiology featuring a complex and highly variable phenotype that can include focal or generalized skeletal disease. We describe a young man with ENS manifesting right-sided linear skin lesions, generalized weakness, diffuse osteopenia associated with hypophosphatemic rickets, and distinctive focal bone lesions ipsilateral to the skin findings. Review of the literature concerning ENS-associated skeletal disease suggested such focal bone defects are fibrous dysplasia, but our patient did not have the typical radiographic or histopathologic findings of fibrous dysplasia.

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Advances in management of adult skull base pathologies are increasingly being applied in children. Pediatric patients present special challenges because of their smaller anatomy, but potential gains in reduced morbidity make improvements in skull base approaches well worth pursuing.

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Objective: Severe cutis aplasia congenita has traditionally been treated with initial soft tissue coverage and delayed cranioplasty. We advocate the technique of early composite reconstruction of both bone and soft tissues.

Methods: Two cases of cutis aplasia congenita with large skull defects (6 x 10 cm, 8 x 8 cm) of superficial layers, skull, and dura are presented.

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Background: The objectives of the study were to describe speech outcomes in a large series of patients undergoing Furlow palatoplasty for management of velopharyngeal insufficiency and to test whether preoperative velopharyngeal gap size and other patient characteristics significantly affect those outcomes.

Methods: Data collected included age at the time of surgery, surgeon, type of cleft, syndrome diagnosis, preoperative velopharyngeal gap size as determined by videonasendoscopy, and preoperative and postoperative perceptual speech assessments. Descriptive statistics were generated and ordinal logistic regression on the outcome variable, postoperative velopharyngeal insufficiency severity score, was performed.

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Objective: Surgical site infections (SSIs) after pediatric intracranial surgery for craniofacial malformations are relatively common and potentially serious nosocomial infections. Despite this, few studies have been published on this topic. We performed a retrospective study to determine the incidence of and factors associated with SSIs after intracranial surgery for craniofacial malformations at a single multidisciplinary craniofacial center during a 6-year period.

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Objective: To recognize several conditions that result in a trapezoid head shape and review and contrast their various physical findings.

Methods: A detailed review of all patients seen in the Craniofacial Clinic at the Children's Hospital and Regional Medical Center in Seattle, Washington, over a 10-year period from 1991 to 2001, with the diagnosis of craniosynostosis and plagiocephaly was performed. During this period, 690 patients had a surgical correction of craniosynostosis, and 1537 patients had posterior plagiocephaly.

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