Bram van Loon

• MD, DMD, PhD
• Medical Doctor at Elisabeth-Tweesteden Hospital

A 65-year-old woman presented with progressively increasing swelling on the right lateral side of her tongue. Further investigation confirmed it to be a schwannoma. Surgical excision of the tumour was performed, resulting in an uncomplicated postoperative recovery with complete preservation of the tongue function.

Purpose Lack of teeth was long considered a contraindication for the use of mandibular advancement devices in the treatment of obstructive sleep apnea syndrome. Implant-retained mandibular advancement device therapy is a promising alternative in patients with edentulous jaws who cannot tolerate continuous positive airway pressure. However, only sev...

This study was undertaken to evaluate the infection rate following orthognathic surgery and to identify possible risk factors. A retrospective study was conducted. Patients undergoing orthognathic surgery from August 1, 2017 to July 31, 2018 were included. The outcome variable was surgical site infection (SSI). All data were analysed with respect t...

Respiratory complications after orthognathic surgery are rare but may be life-threatening. Upper airway impairment, atelectasis, pneumonia, pneumomediastinum, and pneumothorax have been reported. This article reports on a 19-year-old woman suffering from atelectasis, pneumo-mediastinum and a bilateral pneumothorax after bimaxillary surgery. Possibl...

The aim of this study was to evaluate the accuracy of three-dimensional (3D) soft tissue simulation of nose width changes following bimaxillary osteotomies and to identify patient- and surgery-related factors that may affect the accuracy of simulation. Sixty patients (mean age 26 years) who underwent bimaxillary osteotomies participated in this stu...

Orthognathic surgery has an influence on the overlying soft tissues of the translated bony maxillomandibular complex. Improvements in both function and facial appearance are the goals of surgery. However, unwanted changes to the soft tissues, especially in the nose region, frequently occur. The most common secondary change in the nasolabial region...

A major concern in mandibular advancement surgery using bilateral sagittal split osteotomies (BSSO) is potential postoperative relapse. Although the role of postoperative changes in condylar morphology on skeletal relapse was reported in previous studies, no study so far has objectified the precise changes of the condylar volume. The aim of the pre...

Orthognathic surgery aims to improve both the function and facial appearance of the patient. Translation of the maxillomandibular complex for correction of malocclusion is always followed by changes to the covering soft tissues, especially the nose and lips. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the changes in the nasal region and upper lip due...

This study aimed to assess the effects of bone-borne and tooth-borne surgically assisted rapid maxillary expansion on the volumes of the nose and nasal airway 2 yr after maxillary expansion. This prospective cohort study included 32 patients with transverse maxillary hypoplasia. Expansion was performed with a tooth-borne distractor (Hyrax) in 19 pa...

Morphological changes of the condyles are often observed following orthognathic surgery. In addition to clinical assessment, radiographic evaluation of the condyles is required to distinguish the physiological condylar remodelling from pathological condylar resorption. The low contrast resolution and distortion of greyscale values in cone beam comp...

Objectives: This study seeks to three-dimensionally assess soft tissue changes in the orofacial region following tooth-borne and bone-borne surgically assisted rapid maxillary expansion (SARME). Materials and methods: This prospective cohort study included 40 skeletally mature patients with transverse maxillary hypoplasia. A tooth-borne distract...

To evaluatetreatmentoutcomesfollowingoralandmaxillofacialsurgery, pre- andpost-treatmentthree-dimensional(3D)photographsofthepatient’sface can assessed,butthisprocedureisaccurateonlyifthefaceiscapturedwiththesame facial expressioneverytime.Thepurposeofthisprospectivestudywastodetermine variations inthefaceatrest;1003Dphotographsofthesameindividualw...

Background: The aim of this study was to evaluate symmetry of the lip and nose in patients with CUCLP after primary cheiloseptoplasty (Afroze technique), in comparison to non-cleft controls. Methodology: In this prospective study, forty-four patients with operated non-syndromic CUCLP were included. The control group consisted of 44 volunteers witho...

The aim of this study was to evaluate symmetry of the lip and nose in patients with CUCLP after primary cheiloseptoplasty (Afroze technique), in comparison to non-cleft controls. In this prospective study, forty-four patients with operated non-syndromic CUCLP were included. The control group consisted of 44 volunteers without cleft defects of appro...

To evaluate treatment outcomes following oral and maxillofacial surgery, pre- and post-treatment three-dimensional (3D) photographs of the patient's face can assessed, but this procedure is accurate only if the face is captured with the same facial expression every time. The purpose of this prospective study was to determine variations in the face...

When lateral osteotomies are performed as part of a rhinoplasty, the nose and paranasal region invariably change in three dimensions. The PURPOSE of this study is to compare the effect of the percutaneous perforating and endonasal continuous osteotomy techniques concerning the degree of postoperative swelling using three dimensional (3D) stereophot...

To objectively evaluate treatment outcomes in oral and maxillofacial surgery, pre- and post-treatment 3-dimensional (3D) photographs of the patient's face can be registered. For clinical use, it is of great importance that this registration process is accurate (< 1 mm). The purpose of this study was to determine the accuracy of different registrati...

In cleft lip and palate patients the shape of the nose invariably changes in three dimensions (3D) due to rhinoplastic surgery. The purpose of this study was to evaluate stereophotogrammetry as a 3D method to document volumetric changes of the nose in patients with a cleft lip (CL) or cleft lip and palate (CLP) after secondary open rhinoplasty. 12...

Until now, research on flaps in the anteromedial thigh region has focused on flaps in specific regions. To elucidate the complete pattern of suitable anteromedial thigh perforators, an anatomical study was performed by dissecting nine thighs from different cadavers. The ideal perforator has maximum length and diameter and runs through a septum. Acc...

Pre- and postoperative imaging is important and essential for evaluation of the results of rhinoplasty surgery. Two-dimensional photographs are used routinely for this purpose, but have several disadvantages as opposed to three-dimensional imaging techniques, such as stereophotogrammetry. This study is the first to describe the measurement of rhino...