LAUSR

The Journal of Cranio t is not uncommon for plastic surgeons engaged in humanitarian I aid in poor countries of Africa, South America, or the AsiaPacific region, to encounter children affected with severe facial disfigurement due to a disease known actually as noma. This name was given to this particular disease in the eighteenth century. It derives from the ancient Greek word nom?, meaning the feeding from the devouring of pasture by herds and by extension a spreading lesion or a devouring ulcer. Several other names like ‘‘water kanker’’ or ‘‘cancrum oris’’ have been abandoned, as they might suggest cancer’ like lesions. Although little is known about the origin of the disease, for those who have seen a few patients who survived the initial stages, the diagnosis can be made almost immediately by the typical appearance of the residual lesions.