Abstract
Purpose: Romberg's disease manifests as progressive hemifacial atrophy of the skin, soft tissue and bone, which usually begins in the first or second decade of life. When present, atrophy may originate from the cutaneous stigmata and may become so sharply delimited by the midline. Methods: A 10-year-old girl, who had suffered from right mandibular area atrophy for 3 years, visited us and was diagnosed with Romberg's disease. The depressed lesion of the face was augmented successfully using a deepithelialized groin free flap. The superficial circumflex iliac vessels were used as the donor pedicle and the facial artery and vein were used as the recipient vessels. Results: After surgery, the flap survived well and she was satisfied with the result. Although there are various methods of facial augmentation using free flaps, this flap has some advantages. First, there is a considerable amount of fat tissue components for augmentation. Second, flap elevation with thinning is possible. Third, the donor site can be hidden. Conclusion: The groin dermo-fat free flap is a good method for the facial augmentation of Romberg's disease.
