Total Maxillary Alveolar Osteotomy: Surgical Technique and Review of Its Efficacy.

Purpose: The total maxillary alveolar osteotomy (TMxAO) is not commonly used to manage maxillary skeletal deformities. This article describes the technique, reviews its stability, and discusses its advantages over the more popular Le Fort I osteotomy.

Materials And Methods: A series of 177 TMxAO patients satisfying the inclusion criteria from a cadre of 234 patients undergoing TMxAO between 1985 and 1993 were evaluated in a retrospective cohort study regarding achievement of predicted anatomic movements, stability of skeletal results, and preservation of inter-alar dimension.

Scleroderma and the temporomandibular joint: reconstruction in 2 variants.

Purpose: This article reviews the pathophysiology of scleroderma (systemic sclerosis [SSc]) and its destructive effects on the mandible in general and the temporomandibular joint (TMJ) in particular. It discusses the considerations of operating on patients with devastating chronic disease and presents 2 cases of TMJ reconstruction in patients with the diagnosis.

Patients And Methods: Two patients with different degrees of SSc involvement underwent TMJ reconstruction with costochondral grafts.

Intracranial subdural hygroma after Le Fort I osteotomy.

Various intra- and postoperative complications have been well-documented after Le Fort I osteotomies; however, an intracranial subdural hygroma has not yet been reported in oral and maxillofacial studies. We report a unique case of an intracranial subdural hygroma requiring neurosurgical intervention after Le Fort I advancement.

Chondrosarcoma of the temporomandibular disc: behavior over a 28-year observation period.

Chondrosarcoma of the head and neck occurs infrequently, with a recorded prevalence of only 5 to 12% of all such tumors; this in total represents only 17 to 22% of all monostotic bone malignancies. Chondrosarcomas arising in the region of the temporomandibular joint are especially rare, with only 28-including subsets-recorded in the 6 decades since the first report in 1954. The lesion described in the present report would appear to be the first arising solely from the disc itself, and the postoperative period of observation is the longest on record.

Multiple endocrine neoplasia type 2B: maxillofacial significance in 5 cases.

Purpose: This paper intends to review for the oral and maxillofacial surgery community the MEN abnormalities generally, to emphasize the maxillofacial abnormalities peculiar to the MEN2B variant particularly, and to demonstrate the importance of early recognition of its most important component, medullary thyroid carcinoma.

Patients And Methods: The findings in five individuals with confirmed diagnoses of MEN2B are arranged to demonstrate the various manifestations of the disorder, and together represent the largest single group in the oral and maxillofacial surgery literature to date.

Results: Tabulation of the patients' individual findings demonstrates the variants and severity of the disorder, discloses findings not previously emphasized in the literature, and stresses the significance of early recognition of medullary thyroid carcinoma.

Volunteer cleft surgery in Colombia: an 18-year perspective.

Purpose: To report the clinical findings and sociologic impressions of a volunteer surgical group's 18-year experience in Colombia.

Methods: Data were collected originally on hard copy and later in a customized database from the epidemiologic, anatomic, and surgical particulars of 2,410 patients with cleft undergoing 2,558 surgeries and analyzed retrospectively.

Results: This population exhibited an unusually high incidence of isolated soft palate compared with complete cleft palate and the highest incidence yet reported of bilateral cleft defects.