Soft-tissue refinements in the treatment of unicoronal craniosynostosis: the rotational forehead flap.

Abstract

Unicoronal craniosynostosis is characterized by ipsilateral superior and posterior displacement of the supraorbital rim and frontal bone, ipsilateral widening of the palpebral fissure, ipsilateral superior displacement of the brow, and contralateral brow depression. In the literature, surgical treatment has focused on bony anatomy, with little written about soft-tissue correction. Over the last 25 years, the senior author (L.A.W.) has incorporated soft-tissue refinements, including a rotational flap of the forehead, elevating the contralateral brow, depressing the ipsilateral brow, and equilibrating the supratarsal sulci in unicoronal craniosynostosis. This rotational forehead repositioning is a simple innovation that has provided for improved orbital and brow symmetry on long-term follow-up.