Embracing 'Change a Life Jamaica'

THE EDITOR, Sir:

HEMIFACIAL MICROSOMIA (HM) affects one side of the face with varying degrees of severity. Usually the upper and lower jaws, the cheek bone and the ear are involved. This abnormal development results in a twisting of the face to the affected side and the bite plane is not level. HM may be one of the symptoms in a syndrome. The patients with syndromes may have additional problems that affect the heart, upper spine and other areas of the bodies, so it is important that they are thoroughly examined. Most cases are not hereditary. The condition is thought to occur 6-8 weeks in pregnancy, and is not related to anything the mother may have done or any deficiencies she might have had during the pregnancy.

The treatment of HM usually requires a team approach. The University Hospital of the West Indies has a craniofacial surgery team that includes a maxillofacial surgeon, neurosurgeon, plastic surgeon, ear, nose and throat (ENT) surgeon and a paediatrician. Other specialists like speech pathologist, orthodontist and maxillofacial prosthodontist are called in as needed. In general, the specialists involved in each case depend on the type and degree of deformity.

A new start

Ramon Rankin is one of the children that the 'Change a Life Jamaica' project will be assisting in getting a new start in life. His treatment will require multiple surgeries to reshape his face. The different operations are staged in a systematic way to allow the patients' growth to assist in the transformation. The operations involve cutting and repositioning bones in his face, and taking bone and soft tissue from other parts of his body to rebuild parts of his facial skeleton. He will also need realignment of his teeth.

The complex operations involved in reshaping the face are procedures that are regularly performed by our local maxillofacial surgeons at hospitals in the corporate area. UWI Hospital is one such hospital.

Ramon Rankin will soon not only have a new look but a new outlook on life. Thanks to all the warm-hearted Jamaicans contributing to the Change a Life Jamaica Project, we can begin to proudly display the black, green and gold again.

One Love in Jamaica Land we love. Let us all continue to give generously.

I am, etc;

Dr H. D. Lawson-Myers

Chairman, Dental

Council of Jamaica