Lateral Lower Lip Cleft: A Report of a Rare Craniofacial Cleft in a Child

Craniofacial clefts are unusual. Perioral clefts that are discussed in the literature include cleft lip and cleft palate is more common. Midline mandibular and lower lip clefts are rare. Lateral lower lip cleft with only soft tissue involvement is so rare that it has not been reported until now. A 44-month-old girl with a 1-cm-length cleft on the lateral side of the lower lip 8 mm medial to the commissure in lateral one-third of the lower lip referred to the authors' clinic. Repair of the lip consisted of excision of excess mucosa, muscle repair, and 2 z plasties at the level of skin and mucosal layer. This is the first report of a new foreseen type of Tessier clefts which may be classified as one of the clefts 15 to 29. Repair of this cleft can be done by soft tissue considerations when there are no underlying hard structure defects.