Objective Measurements for Grading the Primary Unilateral Cleft Lip Nasal Deformity

• DOI: 10.1097/prs.0b013e3181811a52
• Publication Date: 2008-08-13T07:08:22Z
• Authors: David M. Fisher; Raymond Tse; Jeffrey R. Marcus
• Keywords: Nostril

Background: The purpose of this prospective study was to develop and validate an objective means grading the presurgical unilateral cleft lip nasal deformity. Our hypotheses are that expert surgeons can reliably rank patients according their subjective assessment degree deformity anthropometric measurements correlate consistently with assessment. Methods: Forty consecutive infants were subjectively ranked on standardized photographs by four senior surgeons. Internal agreement assessed. Correlations between parameters panel rankings determined. To test reproducibility ranking, a random subset images (n = 15) also external international reputation. Results: There extremely high ranking panels (interclass correlation coefficient, 0.95 for internal 0.94 panel) two 0.97). nostril width ratio most predictive both scores (r 0.76, p < 0.0001; r 0.81, 0.0003, respectively). columellar angle highly 0.73, 0.79, 0.0005, Conclusions: Experts able Measures vary in linear fashion perceived may serve as independent indicators severity