Tessier cranio-facial clefts presenting to a tertiary eye care center in Northern India: Ophthalmic features and a review of management

PURPOSE: Tessier classification is used to classify congenital facial cleft disorders utilizing the anatomical location of the cleft and its extension. The orbital and ocular morbidities associated with the birth disorder are numerous. The authors decided to perform a retrospective analysis of the clinical features of the patients who presented to a tertiary care hospital with orbito-cranial clefts. METHODS: The authors retrospectively evaluated the records of patients with craniofacial clefts who had presented to a tertiary eye care hospital in northern India in the last 2 years (January 2019–December 2020). The clinical features were studied, entered in MS Excel, and the data were evaluated. RESULTS: The data of 40 patients with Tessier cleft were found. The majority of the patients were male and presented in the pediatric age group. Unilateral involvement was more common, with maxillary hypoplasia being the most common facial anomaly associated. Eyelid coloboma and euryblepharon was the most common periocular finding; lateral epibulbar dermoid and corneal opacity were the most common ocular surface anomaly. The majority of patients had presented for cosmetic correction. The syndromic association was with Goldenhar syndrome (n = 13), Fraser (n = 2), and one each of Treacher Collins, blepharocheilodontic, organoid nevus, and oculo-dento-digital syndrome. Combined clefts were also seen. CONCLUSION: Tessier cleft classification is a useful tool to classify cranio-facial left anomalies. Multitudes of ocular and orbital anomalies can be associated with their different forms. Better knowledge and understanding of the classification will aid immensely in predicting the ocular defects and planning their management.