Midfacial trauma and facial growth: a longitudinal case study of monozygotic twins

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to present a long-term follow-up of the growth of the face and the nasomaxillary complex in a pair of identical twins, one of whom had suffered severe midfacial trauma at age 2 years. Growth of the face and the nasomaxillary complex was longitudinally assessed and compared by means of facial photographs and cephalometric x-rays. Twin A suffered Le Fort II and III fractures with an associated frontal bone injury in early childhood and subsequently developed significant midface hypoplasia; twin B had no trauma and normal facial growth and development. Facial profile difference between the twins gradually became more pronounced until age 19. Twin A had obvious retrusion of the midfacial region, including the nasal bones on visual examination and radiographic study. At age 20, she underwent orthognathic surgical correction of the traumatic deformity. Her unaffected sibling, twin B, provided the genetic facial phenotype for the surgical orthognathic reconstruction.