Unless you know a friend or loved one who experienced a craniofacial disorder, such as cleft palate, it’s likely you may never have heard of the many conditions that affect the bones and soft tissues of the head and face. No matter how complex or rare a craniofacial disorder, it’s likely the craniofacial program at Norton Children’s Hospital has cared for a child from Louisville, Southern Indiana or across the globe with that condition.

First Program in the Midwest to Treat Craniofacial Disorders

In the 1920s, Norton Children’s Hospital became the first in the Midwest to develop a “craniofacial anomalies team” to treat children with facial deformities. The team’s expertise and quality care has continued to grow.

Today, the Norton Children’s Craniofacial Program, in conjunction with the University of Louisville School of Medicine, helps hundreds of kids with craniofacial disorders every year.

Mark E. Chariker, M.D., chief of plastic surgery at Norton Children’s Hospital, and a team of specialists with Norton Children’s Neuroscience Institute, affiliated with the UofL School of Medicine, are skilled in advanced techniques in craniofacial surgery.

Our craniofacial specialists work closely with specialists in dentistry; ear, nose and throat; oral and maxillofacial surgery; and pediatric rehabilitation to provide comprehensive care.

We understand the importance of minimizing soft tissue disruption during surgery, including:

• Minimal incision palatoplasty for cleft palate repair
• Minimal access LeFort III procedure for midface hypoplasia
• Mandibular distraction with use of ultrasonic scalpel
• Minimal access cranial vault distraction for craniosynostosis
• Virtual surgical planning for orthognathic and cranial vault surgery
• Adjunct biologic material integration for enhanced regenerative capabilities

Craniofacial Disorders We Treat

• Acute and chronic conditions (resulting from a disease, injury or other trauma) as the result of facial fractures
• Auriculocondylar syndrome
• Branchiootorenal syndrome
• Blepharophimosis
• Cleft palate and related conditions, including:
  • 2-related disorders/velocardiofacial syndrome
  • Pierre Robin sequence
  • Stickler syndrome
  • Van der Woude syndrome
• CHARGE syndrome
• Craniofacial syndromes, including:
  • Craniosynostosis (isolated, multisuture involvement)
  • Apert syndrome
  • Carpenter syndrome
  • Crouzon syndrome
  • Muenke syndrome
  • Plagiocephaly
  • Pfeiffer syndrome
  • Saethre-Chotzen syndrome
  • Nager syndrome
  • Cleidocranial dysplasia
  • Miller syndrome
  • Treacher Collins syndrome
• Craniofacial (hemifacial) microsomia
  • Goldenhar syndrome
• Dermoid cyst
• Ear anomalies
  • Microtia
  • Cryptocia
  • Lop ear
  • Prominent ear (conchal hypertrophy)
  • Stahls deformity
• Encephalocele
• Frontonasal dysplasia
• Glioma (nasal)
• Facial clefts
  • Tessier facial cleft
• Facial synostosis
• Fibrous dysplasia
• Mandibulofacial dysostosis with microcephaly (MFDM)
• Micrognathia (undersized jaw)
• Neurofibromatosis
• Retrognathia
  • Tongue-based airway obstruction (TBSO)
• Orbital deformities
• Parry-Romberg syndrome
• Townes-Brocks syndrome