Iraqi boy’s facial deformity corrected

Chennai: A 14-year-old Iraqi boy with Crouzon syndrome, a congenital disorder, recently underwent a major surgery at Balaji Dental and Craniofacial Hospital in the city.

Due to fusion of the facial bones from birth, Mustafa Awad’s eyeballs had compressed and he had a facial deformity.

Awad had an abnormally shaped skull and face and his eye sockets were shallow causing the eyes to bulge.

Consultant oral and maxillofacial surgeon, Dr S.M. Balaji, who said this condition occurred in 16 babies per million newborn, used distraction osteogenesis, a new technique, where bone is expanded in a slow and controlled manner.

“A few years ago, we used to place a rigid external distractor,” he recalled.

“It was huge, children found it difficult to go to school with it, it could be removed only after three months. But we used internal distractors which are now available. Seven days after the surgery we used the internal distractor, 1 mm per day, to correct Mustafa’s facial profile. It took 16 days to achieve 16 mm, and thus, the facial bones were gradually advanced,” Dr Balaji said.

After surgery, the upper jaw was slowly brought forward, increasing the volume of the eye socket and reducing the bulge of the eyes.

“My sister is a dentist and I showed my new look after correction to her and my friends,” said Mustafa, clearly pleased with the transformation.

Mustafa’s parents, Salam Awad and Abtisam, are both practising general physicians in Iraq and chose this hospital as a relative had undergone surgery here.