Untreated 'blow-in' fracture of the orbital floor causing a mucocele: report of an unusual late complication.

BACKGROUND: Several severe complications have been described with blow-in fractures. Therefore, immediate surgical treatment of these fractures has been recommended. To date, there is only minimal knowledge on long-term complications of blow-in fractures that have remained untreated. The present case report describes a late complication of an untreated blow-in fracture of the orbital floor. CASE: A 37-year-old male was involved in a car accident 16 years before. At that time, a non-dislocated midfacial fracture was diagnosed and remained untreated because of the lack of clinical symptoms. Four months before surgery an exophthalmos of the left globe began to develop. CT examination revealed a consolidated blow-in fracture of the left orbital floor and an opaque mass around the dislocated bony fragments. By an infraorbital approach the bony fragments and the surrounding mass were removed. Histological examination of the removed material revealed a cystic structure lined with respiratory epithelium. Therefore, the diagnosis 'post-traumatic mucocele in the orbit caused by dislocated respiratory epithelium from the maxillary sinus' was made. CONCLUSION: Even if blow-in fractures do not cause complications immediately after trauma, late complications like mucoceles can occur after several symptom-free years. Therefore, early reconstruction should be intended even in asymptomatic cases of blow-in fractures with minimal displacement of the bony fragments.

Determination of facial symmetry in unilateral cleft lip and palate patients from three-dimensional data: technical report and assessment of measurement errors.

OBJECTIVE: To assess measurement errors of a novel technique for the three-dimensional determination of the degree of facial symmetry in patients suffering from unilateral cleft lip and palate malformations. DESIGN: Technical report, reliability study. SETTING: Cleft Lip and Palate Center of the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Erlangen, Germany. PATIENTS: The three-dimensional facial surface data of five 10-year-old unilateral cleft lip and palate patients were subjected to the analysis. Distances, angles, surface areas, and volumes were assessed twice. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Calculations were made for method error, intraclass correlation coefficient, and repeatability of the measurements of distances, angles, surface areas, and volumes. RESULTS: The method errors were less than 1 mm for distances and less than 1.5 degrees for angles. The intraclass correlation coefficients showed values greater than .90 for all parameters. The repeatability values were comparable for cleft and noncleft sides. CONCLUSION: The small method errors, high intraclass correlation coefficients, and comparable repeatability values for cleft and noncleft sides reveal that the new technique is appropriate for clinical use.