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Objective: To quantitatively assess three-dimensional (3D) soft tissue facial asymmetry in patients with unilateral cleft lip and palate (UCLP) who have undergone primary lip repair. Design: Clinical, retrospective, comparative, methodological study. Patients/Participants: Twenty patients with UCLP were selected after a review of the records. Inclusion Criteria: Complete UCLP; surgically treated without secondary repair. An age-matched and sex-matched Control group was employed. Main Outcome Measures: A 3D facial symmetry plane (FSP) was obtained by superimposing the point clouds of the original 3D facial image excluding the surgical site and including lip and nose areas and those of a mirrored facial image using the iterative closest point (ICP) adjustment method. The discrepancies in the depth and angle of the normal vector of the facial surface of each point cloud between right and left sides (cleft and non-cleft sides in the UCLP group, respectively) based on FSP were calculated. Results: Facial asymmetry in the UCLP group was significantly greater than in the Control group regarding both the discrepancies in the depth (1.34 ± 0.62, 0.73 ± 0.32 pixels, respectively) (P =.0004) and surface angle (18.0 ± 5.88, 12.8 ± 4.0°, respectively) (P =.0024). Biaxial assessment of the discrepancies in the depth and surface angle allowed us to visually extract UCLP patients with greater facial asymmetry. Conclusions: Facial asymmetry analysis based on 3D FSP effectively facilitates the facial asymmetry quantification and soft tissue surgical outcome evaluation in patients with UCLP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: Although ameloblastoma is a benign tumor, its local invasiveness and recurrence rate are both high. Thus, the regulation of the invasiveness of ameloblastoma cells into the surrounding tissue is required to understand its pathogenesis. Ameloblastoma cells secrete several matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs); however, the factors inducing their secretion remain unclear. We previously suggested that interleukin (IL)‐1α derived from ameloblastoma cells triggers the production of inflammatory cytokines by stromal fibroblasts. In this study, we estimated whether IL‐1α affects the behavior of ameloblastoma cells. Methods: The gene expression of MMP‐9 was assessed by real‐time reverse transcription–polymerase chain reaction (RT‐PCR). The secretion of MMP‐9 was assessed by enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The motility of AM‐3 ameloblastoma and Raw264.7 （macrophage derived cells） cells and the invasiveness of AM‐3 cells were calculated using the Boyden chamber. The invasiveness of AM‐3 cells toward human foreskin fibroblast (HFF)‐2 fibroblasts were assessed using modified double‐layered collagen gel hemisphere (DL‐CGH). Results: The mRNA expression and secretion of MMP‐9 by AM‐3 ameloblastoma cells were significantly increased by IL‐1α stimulation. The motilities of AM‐3 and RAW264.7 macrophage derived cells and the invasiveness of AM‐3 cells were significantly enhanced by IL‐1α and suppressed by an IL‐1 receptor antagonist (IL‐1Ra). The invasiveness of AM‐3 cells towards HFF‐2 fibroblasts in a DL‐CGH model was suppressed by a treatment with IL‐1Ra or an anti‐IL‐1α neutralizing antibody. Conclusion: IL‐1α itself or the IL‐1α‐dependent production of unidentified chemo attractants by stromal cells may be important for the local invasiveness of ameloblastoma cells, and IL‐1α might be a therapeutic target of the ameloblastoma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: It is widely known that orthognathic surgery affects changes in facial soft tissue morphology. However, the effect of orthognathic surgery on facial expression remains to be verified. The purpose of this study was to examine the pros and cons of the effects of orthognathic surgery on facial expression in skeletal Class III patients. Methods: Fifteen patients (5 males, 10 females) were captured pre‐surgery and at 6 months' post‐surgery using Kinect camera while performing facial soft tissue movements (opening mouth, smiling, and blowing). The three‐dimensional coordinates, amount of movement, and velocity of the eight facial soft tissue landmarks during motion were obtained. As controls, 15 Japanese healthy volunteers with Class I occlusion were included. Results: Differences in the three‐dimensional coordinate values during movement were confirmed, and there were some landmarks in the lower face region of the preoperative patient that showed significant differences compared with the control. Total amount of movement and velocity of Pogonion during smiling were significantly smaller than those of the control group, but there was no significant difference between the control and postoperative groups at any landmarks after surgery. It was suggested that patients with skeletal Class III may have limited movement in some movements, and it was confirmed that with orthognathic surgery, the aspect of movement would be similar to that of the control. Conclusions: Orthognathic surgery may be beneficial to the facial muscles without limiting facial movements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Currently, patients with dysphagia are receiving dietary management that deviates from their original swallowing function. Objective: To evaluate the clinical significance of fibreoptic endoscopic evaluation of swallowing (FEES) and dietary intervention (DI) by multi‐professional collaboration during visit care for determining the actual oral intake status in patients with dysphagia. Methods: Five hundred and eighteen patients with dysphagia underwent FEES, focusing on the penetration‐aspiration scale, and DI. Oral intake status was categorised using the functional oral intake scale (FOIS). FOIS scores at the first visit, after FEES, and at the reassessment were compared. Results: At the first visit, 34.7% of the patients had an FOIS score of level 1 (no oral intake) and 65.3% had a score of level 2 or higher (capable of oral intake). Following FEES, 7.1% of patients had an FOIS score of level 1, and 44.4% had a score of level 2 with resumption of oral intake. At the reassessment, 489 patients (94.4%) were capable of oral ingestion (FOIS level 2 or higher). There were significant differences between the distributions of FOIS scores at the first visit and following FEES (P <.01) and between those at the first visit and at the reassessment (P <.01). Regarding tube feeding, 17 (5.9%) of 289 patients, who had received tube feeding at the first visit, were completely capable of oral intake following FEES and at the reassessment. Conclusion: Appropriate evaluation of swallowing function using FEES and DI helps to understand the definite swallowing function in patients with dysphagia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To quantitatively assess three-dimensional (3D) soft tissue facial asymmetry in patients with unilateral cleft lip and palate (UCLP) who have undergone primary lip repair., Design: Clinical, retrospective, comparative, methodological study., Patients/participants: Twenty patients with UCLP were selected after a review of the records., Inclusion Criteria: Complete UCLP; surgically treated without secondary repair. An age-matched and sex-matched Control group was employed., Main Outcome Measures: A 3D facial symmetry plane (FSP) was obtained by superimposing the point clouds of the original 3D facial image excluding the surgical site and including lip and nose areas and those of a mirrored facial image using the iterative closest point (ICP) adjustment method. The discrepancies in the depth and angle of the normal vector of the facial surface of each point cloud between right and left sides (cleft and non-cleft sides in the UCLP group, respectively) based on FSP were calculated., Results: Facial asymmetry in the UCLP group was significantly greater than in the Control group regarding both the discrepancies in the depth (1.34 ± 0.62, 0.73 ± 0.32 pixels, respectively) ( P  = .0004) and surface angle (18.0 ± 5.88, 12.8 ± 4.0°, respectively) ( P  = .0024). Biaxial assessment of the discrepancies in the depth and surface angle allowed us to visually extract UCLP patients with greater facial asymmetry., Conclusions: Facial asymmetry analysis based on 3D FSP effectively facilitates the facial asymmetry quantification and soft tissue surgical outcome evaluation in patients with UCLP., Competing Interests: Declaration of Conflicting InterestsThe authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.