Rare facial surgery on Lankan woman

Surgeons at a Chennai hospital have set right a rare facial birth deformity in a 24-yearold Sri Lankan woman through a surgery that cuts a jaw to let bone cells grow in between. The woman had hemifacial microsomia, a rare deformity where one side of the face is underdeveloped, resulting in facial asymmetry.

This defect may be present since birth. Patients suffering from this deformity have a slanted smile with the affected side being higher than the unaffected side. Normal jaw growth is impaired. The chin also appears slanted. More severe cases may affect the ear, eye and nose on the affected side. Since the face gets deformed at a young age, the psychological well-being of the patient is also affected.

The only treatment for this rare condition is surgery. Surgeons led by Dr S M Balaji of Balaji Dental and Craniofacial Hospital used a surgical technique called intraoral simultaneous distraction osteogenesis. The technique is used to correct defects of the upper and lower jaws. After the jaw is cut, a distractor device is placed at the site. The device is connected to a screw which, with a daily rotation of 1mm from outside, gradually pushes the bone apart, allowing new bone formation in the gap. This lengthens the jaw and corrects the shortcoming of the affected side of the face. The same principle is applied in Ilizarov, the surgical method used for lengthening of limbs.

Doctors used an advanced three-dimensional cone beam CT scan to gauge the extent of deformity before deciding on the surgical technique. Sri Lankan deputy high commissioner V Krishnamoorthy visited the patient, Times of India reported.