The physical characteristics vary enormously in severity from one child to the next. But certain abnormalities of the head, face and craniofacial areas are characteristic. These children commonly have down-slanting eyes, notched lower eyelids, no lower jaw or one that is small and slanting, as well as malformed ears, and an underdevelopment or absence of cheekbones. These children may undergo surgeries to correct hearing, a possible cleft palate, repairs of the eye socket, cheekbones, eyelid notches, ear reconstruction, and chin and jaw correction. Most of these children have normal development and intelligence.
Experts say they benefit most from early intervention speech and language programs.
The multiplanar mandibular distractor that they use is a computer-based modeling program that simulates the movements and calculates the vectors of the active jaw. We've been using this technique for three or four years. He then explains that a child's CAT scan results are fed into the computer, and then a device is designed at the workstation that fits the child's dimensions. He says that the virtual reality simulation program allows his team minute design control, based on exquisite mathematical calculations. TCS is believed to be caused by a change in the gene on chromosome 5, which affects facial development.