Eyeball Preservation With Purse-String Conjunctival Closure for Melting Corneal Ulcer in Rare Facial Cleft

Rare facial clefts are characterized by facial involvement that is not restricted to the lip, palate, and alveolus as in traditional cleft lip and palate. The craniofacial skeleton and the orbital structures are frequently affected in these conditions. Exposure of the eyeball, when not early treated, puts the function and the preservation of the eye at risk. We report the case of a 2-month-old boy admitted to our service with an extensive oral-ocular cleft and exposure of the eyeball with melting corneal ulcer treated with a conjunctival closure with a purse-string suture.