Secondary Correction of Wide Philtral Deformity in the Bilateral Cleft Lip

PURPOSE: Deformities after bilateral cleft lip repair usually involve the philtrum and the central upper lip, which presents as wide philtrum, wide Cupid's bow, whistling deformity and prominent prolabium. The object of this study is to introduce a simple method to correct such deformities of bilateral cleft lip, that is the redo-operation following the modified Millard's method. METHODS: We present 2 patients with secondary deformities of the philtrum and central upper lip after bilateral cleft lip repair. A simple design was used to excise the excessive skin and mucosa of the central upper lip, and the philtrum and Cupid's bow were restored to the standard average width of Korean population. RESULTS: The wide central upper lip and philtrum were successfully restored to the appropriate width(10-12mm) and shape. Also the border of the red vermilion was aligned properly resulting in a good contour of the upper lip. Both patients were satisfied with the results. CONCLUSION: In patients with wide philtral deformities, our simple method can be utilized for a satisfying result.

Application of vertical lip flaps in repair of whistling deformity on lip / 中华医学美学美容杂志

Objective To explore and use a simple effective technique for repairing whistling de-formities and similar defects of upper lip.Methods According to various degrees of the defect on the ver-milion,one or two lip flaps were designed.At the first,a horizontal incision was performed in the area of vermilion defect to make the wound as a recipient area,then one or two lip flaps were formed,which were vertical against horizontal incision and close to area of deformity.Lengths of the flap ranged from 0.6 to 1.4cm,widths of the flap ranged from 0.4~0.7cm,and maximum ratio of length to width was 3:1.At last,the lip flaps were rotated up to recipient area for repairing whistling deformities.Sometimes deform-ities of Cupid’s bow and white lip were repaired at the same time through making additional incision.Re-sults Follow-up for l to 15 months showed that 25 cases of operation were with satisfactory results,ver-milion deformities were repaired or acquired visible improvement without complications and without leav-ing clear incision scar at lip after operation from November 2002 to September 2004.Conclusion In gen-eral application of vertical lip flaps could achieve anticipatory objective for repairing the whistling deformi-ties on lip if there are sufficient membraneous tissue in donor area.This operation is simple,practical and satisfactory.