Macrostomia refers to a mouth that is unusually wide. The term is from the Greek prefix makro- meaning "large" and from Greek στόμα, "mouth".Macrostomia is characterized as a physical abnormality that causes clefts to form on the face of affected individuals. These clefts can form on either or both sides of the face, but they are most commonly seen on the right cheek and have a higher rate of occurrence in males. Macrostomia is very irregular and on average occurs only once in every 150,000 to 300,000 live births. Its unusual for macrostomia to occur on its own and it is included as a symptom for many diseases including craniofacial microsomia. The clefts result from improper development and fusion of the mandibular and maxillary processes. The clefts cause problems with facial muscle development. The origin of macrostomia is not yet fully understood: it could have multiple causes. Phenotypic variations
There are 4 distinct variations of macrostomia. Classifications are a complete lateral facial cleft, simple macrostomia, macrostomia with diastasis of the facial musculature, and isolated facial musculature diastasis. Each has a different physical appearance with varying levels of severity.The cleft associated with macrostomia is associated with improper or failed fusion of the mandibular and maxillary processes during embryonic development. This can lead to a variety of abnormalities involving skin, subcutaneous tissue, facial muscles, and the mucous membrane. The severity of each abnormality can vary from minor to severe. Environmental contaminants may play a role in causing macrostomia.
IGF-1 is responsible for most of the symptoms of acromegaly, and the normalization of its levels can control the symptoms.Long-term treatment studies with pegvisomant as a monotherapy have shown it to be safe, and effective. Research
Some studies show the potential of using pegvisomant as an anti-tumor treatment for certain types of cancers. References
External links
"Pegvisomant". Drug Information Portal. U.S. National Library of Medicine.