Craniofacial Deformities

Hypertelorism

What is Hypertelorism?

For a normal looking face, the distance between the eyes should be roughly 30 to 35 mm in children. Even slight increase makes a huge difference in appearance. Orbital Hypertelorism is the condition that refers to an abnormally increased distance between the two eyes measuring more than 35 mm in children. In this condition, the eyes are so wide set that the nose appears broad, almost animal like and flat. All the structures that normally occur between the eyes are displaced. Sometimes even the brain is positioned lower, and found hanging between the eyes. This condition occurs since birth and can occur alone or as manifestation of other birth deformities.

Improvisation

The technique of moving the eye balls along with the sockets is called facial bipartition surgery. In this particular case, there was a defect in the floor of the skull holding the brain and therefore extreme care needed to be taken to preserve unprotected brain tissue. Moreover the child had very small eyes and the upper half of the face was flattened completely due to the lack of growth around the eyes.