Statistics and Outcomes

What Seattle Children’s Measures and Why

The Craniofacial Center tracks the number of patients we care for and the surgeries we perform each year to help you make informed decisions about your child’s treatment. We also use this information to improve the quality of care we provide.

Our team has more combined experience treating craniofacial conditions than any other center in the United States. Seeing a large number of children with craniofacial conditions helps us to continually improve our care. No matter how rare the condition, we have likely cared for someone like your child.

When choosing a craniofacial center to care for your child, we encourage you to ask how many patients they have seen with your child’s condition and how many surgeries they have performed.

Many families consider national rankings in choosing medical care for their children. In 2018, U.S. News & World Report ranked Seattle Children’s neurosurgery program #1 in the Northwest, and among the top 10 nationally. Our craniofacial plastic surgeons work with our neurosurgeons on many craniofacial procedures.

Read more about Seattle Children’s Craniofacial Center.

Craniofacial Center Patient Volumes

Total number of patients, 2013-2017

In the past 5 years, our craniofacial team has cared for 11,980 patients. These include children with common problems like cleft palate and complex syndromes that affect the shape of the head and face.

Number of craniofacial patients by selected diagnoses, 2013–2017

This chart shows the number of children receiving care from our Craniofacial Center team over the past 5 years in 5 main categories.

• Syndromic cleft lip and palate includes Robin sequence, Stickler syndrome, van der Woude syndrome, 22q11.2 deletion syndrome and other rare conditions.
• Syndromic craniosynostosis includes patients with Apert syndrome, Crouzon syndrome, Muenke syndrome, Pfeiffer syndrome, Saethre-Chotzen syndrome and other rare syndromes.
• Jaw and ear anomalies include patients with craniofacial microsomia, Treacher Collins syndrome and other rare conditions.
• Patients with other diagnoses, including plagiocephaly: 8,147

Number of new patients by selected craniofacial diagnoses, 2017

This chart shows the number of patients who came to our Craniofacial Center for the first time in 2016 to receive care for conditions in 5 main categories.

Craniofacial Center Procedure Volumes, 2013–2017

Seattle Children’s has more surgeons specializing in clefting than any other craniofacial center in the country. We perform more surgeries for cleft lip and palate than any hospital in the region that includes Washington, Alaska, Montana and Idaho.

This chart shows the 4 most common types of surgeries the Craniofacial Center team performs.

• Intracranial procedures expand and shape the skull to give the brain room to grow.
• Cleft palate surgery repairs a gap in the roof of the mouth.
• Cleft lip repair closes a gap in the lips.
• Alveolar bone graft repairs the part of the upper jaw that holds the teeth.

Read about craniofacial surgery at Seattle Children’s.

Where does this information come from?

These charts reflect patient volumes and selected surgical statistics from 2013 to 2017.

Who do I contact if I have questions?

Talk with your child’s doctor or contact the Craniofacial Center at 206-987-2208.

Statistics and Outcomes: What do they mean?

Statistics, outcomes, volumes, survival rates – these numbers may seem overwhelming at first, but they can help you choose the best place for your child’s care.

Updated May 2018.