A new study describes a novel surgical technique used to treat Moebius syndrome, a rare congenital condition leading to inability to smile, oral incompetence, and significant impact in social engagement. The study is published in Facial Plastic Surgery & Aesthetic Medicine. Click here to read the article now.
Babak Azizzadeh, MD, from Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and the Center for Advanced Facial Plastic Surgery, and coauthors, present a novel method for utilizing ipsilateral facial nerve for motor innervation of gracilis free functional muscle transfer (FFMT) in select patients with Moebius syndrome who clinically demonstrate residual facial nerve activity.
"This is the first study to identify intraoperative residual facial nerve activity accounting for movement in Moebius patients with 'full,' bilateral paralysis," state the investigators. In addition, "this is the first description of residual ipsilateral facial nerve powered gracilis FFMT in children with Moebius and bilateral paralysis leading to spontaneous, symmetric smile."
Facial Plastic Surgery & Aesthetic Medicine Editor-in-Chief Travis T. Tollefson, MD, MPH, University of California, Davis, states: "This video submission to FPSAM joins others in this last year to depict a nuanced improvement in surgically creating a smile in a child or adult who cannot move their face. These authors and others use artful enhancements of donor nerve choices, muscle vector, and soft tissue adjustments, as they inch closer to the seemingly unattainable natural, spontaneous smile, congruent with the person's emotive state."
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Facial Plastic Surgery & Aesthetic
