René Le Fort
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René Le Fort (1869-1951) was a French army surgeon from Lille who is remembered for creating a classification for fractures of the face. His uncle was surgeon Léon Clément Le Fort (1829-1893), who introduced a surgical operation for uterine prolapse.
In 1901 René Le Fort published a treatise called Etude expérimental sur les fractures de la machoir supérieure concerning his experiments with maxillary fractures of the skull. To perform these experiments, Le Fort used the skulls of cadavers, and delivered blunt forces of varying degrees of magnitude, as well as from different directions. From these tests, he determined that predictable patterns of fractures are the result of certain types of injuries, and concluded that there are three predominant types of mid-face fractures.
- Le Fort I fractures: (horizontal) A fracture of the maxilla immediately above the teeth and palate.
- Le Fort II fractures: (pyramidal) The result of a blow to the lower or mid maxilla.
- Le Fort III fractures: (transverse) Also called craniofacial separation, the result of impact to the nasal bridge or upper maxilla.
In some instances, maxillary fractures are a combination of two or three Le Fort types. Although this system of classification is considered somewhat simplistic today, it is still widely used in medicine.
