ABSTRACT
The French anatomist René Le Fort (1901) classified experimentally induced midface fractures in human cadavers and described them in three groups. Le Fort I maxilla fractures are low level dento-alveolar fractures. They may be segmental or exhibit detachment of the whole upper alveolus from the facial skeleton. Le Fort II fractures are pyramidal injuries involving the medial orbit and orbital floor bilaterally, with the fracture lines running postero-inferiorly across the midface ultimately separating the upper alveolus from the facial skeleton with the nasal capsule as part of the fracture segment. Le Fort III fractures are high level injuries involving the orbital walls above the level of the floor and extending laterally to the zygomatic regions. They are serious injuries. More recently, several different clinical classifications have been described. In one such, Rowe subdivided middle third facial injuries into lateral and medial types, amongst which he advised separate detailed descriptions of each component of the fracture.
