Search PubMed⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search PubMed

Results for “PALATE”

Search indexed PubMed citations on genomics, clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health. Explore titles, authors and supplied subject terms, then open the PubMed record.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 667 records · Page 37Linked to original sources

Effects of thyroid hormones on the induction of cleft palate by 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) in C57BL/6N mice.

The induction of cleft palate by 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) administered with thyroid hormones triiodothyronine (T3) or thyroxine (T4) was investigated in C57BL/6N mice. Timed-pregnant mice were treated with vehicle, TCDD, T3, T4, TCDD plus T3, or TCDD plus T4 on Days 10 to 13 of gestation. No cleft palates were observed in any control fetuses in this study, nor have there been any cleft palates in 1193 fetuses or 154 control litters in the past 24 months. TCDD (3 micrograms/kg/day) caused about 8% cleft palates per litter, while T3 (120, 240, 480 micrograms/kg/day) and T4 (625, 1250, 2500 micrograms/kg/day) resulted in no more than 1.2% cleft palates per litter in any of the treatment groups and the incidence was not dose related. The combination of TCDD (3 micrograms/kg/day) plus T3 at 120, 240, and 480 micrograms/kg/day resulted in 15.9, 20.6, and 31.4% cleft palates per litter, respectively. TCDD plus T4 at 625, 1250 and 2500 micrograms/kg/day caused 15.1, 22.9, and 27.2% cleft palates per litter. No cleft palates were observed when large doses of T3 were given in combination with T4. These data demonstrated that coadministration of T3 or T4 with TCDD increased the incidence of cleft palate to incidences greater than expected from the separate administration of the hormones plus TCDD.

Animals↗

Hard palate mucosal grafts in oculoplastic surgery: donor site lessons.

PURPOSE: Hard palate mucosal grafts have been used successfully in posterior lamellar reconstruction. Atypical surgical findings, techniques, and complications related to the hard palate donor site are reported herein. DESIGN: Interventional case series. METHODS: The medical records of five patients who were cared for in an institutional practice between 1987 and 2002 were retrospectively reviewed. All patients had unusual donor site findings discovered during or after hard palate mucosal grafting for eyelid or socket reconstruction. RESULTS: Seven eyelid reconstructions with hard palate grafts were performed on the five patients (three male, two female), with an age range of 14 to 73 years at surgery. Patients were followed for an average of 6 years (range: 9 months to 11 years). Unusual hard palate findings during surgery or the postoperative period included hard palate and maxillary sinus malignancy, torus palatinus, and persistent donor site bleeding that provoked gastric variceal bleeding in a patient with preexisting liver disease. Atypical surgical techniques included both inadvertent and intentional harvesting of hard palate tissue over the midline palatine raphe. CONCLUSION: Hard palate grafting is a successful and commonly practiced approach to eyelid and socket reconstruction. An awareness of unusual anatomic findings or techniques associated with the hard palate donor site may improve surgical outcomes and decrease patient morbidity.

Adolescent↗

[Social adjustment in French adults from who had undergone standardised treatment of complete unilateral cleft lip and palate].

France has a population of about 60 million peoples and each ten years data about the standard of living are collected by the central bureau of statistics, we considered the collection of data on 5000 households in 1999 in our geographical area would afford a unique opportunity to compare the equivalent status of French adults with repaired cleft of the lip and palate (CLP). Aspects of social adjustment were investigated in a sample of 82 French adults 18-35 years old with repaired complete unilateral cleft of the lip and palate (CLP). All subjects received a standardized regimen of care from the Burgundy cleft palate team of Dijon. The investigation, based on response to a questionnaire, partly replicated a national survey of social and economic life in the population (Standard of living survey Burgundy, INSEE France 1999), so that adults with complete clefts could be compared with a large control sample of the same age. The control group was constituted by subjects between 18 and 35 years in the standard of living survey Burgundy 1999, INSEE France, they were taken from a regional probability sample of households. This report covers education, employment, and marriage. The significant difference between groups was assessed by: Student's t-test or analysis of variance for continuous variables and chi2 test for categorical variables. The results demonstrated that there are significant differences in educational attainment and employment between adults with cleft of the lip and palate and other people. Fewer with cleft of the lip and palate marry, and when they marry they do so later in life, scholarship history showed significant delay in the cleft of the lip and palate group, independence regarding housing was lower in the cleft of the lip and palate group. If cleft of the lip and palate adults functioned within normal limits with regard to employment. However, levels of income were substantively lower than control groups. It would appear that cleft subjects experience some limitation in their ability to secure vocational and economic rewards from society. As a conclusion we can say regarding our results that the cleft of the lip and palate group, even with the smallest degree of malformation (unilateral without associated malformation), showed a significant delay in the independence process.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

Speech evaluation and dental arch shape following pushback palatoplasty in cleft palate patients: Supraperiosteal flap technique versus mucoperiosteal flap technique.

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to evaluate and compare the maxillary dental arch shape and speech of cleft palate patients following pushback palatoplasty using either the supraperiosteal flap technique or the mucoperiosteal flap technique. PATIENTS: Sixty-two patients (29, cleft palate only; 33, unilateral cleft lip, alveolus and palate) operated on by the supraperiosteal technique and 47 patients (23, cleft palate only; 24 unilateral cleft lip, alveolus and palate) by the mucoperiosteal technique were reviewed in this study. STUDY DESIGN: Dental arch shape and speech proficiency at preschool and school age were evaluated in all patients. RESULTS: Dental arch shapes were classified as U type (good dental arch shape) and V type (narrow dental arch shape). In cleft palate only patients, U type was observed in 90% of the supraperiosteal group and 83% of the mucoperiosteal group. In unilateral cleft lip, alveolus and palate patients, U type was observed in 85% of the supraperiosteal group, while only in 33% of the mucoperiosteal group. In cleft palate only patients, normal speech at school age was observed 100% of the supraperiosteal group and 83% of the mucoperiosteal group. In unilateral cleft lip, alveolus and palate patients, normal speech at school age was observed in 97% of the supraperiosteal group and 75% of the mucoperiosteal group. Misarticulation was frequently found in patients with the V type of dental arch shape. CONCLUSION: It is suggested that pushback palatoplasty using the supraperiosteal technique is more advantageous for speech development compared with the mucoperiosteal technique.

Articulation Disorders↗

Expression patterns of Hedgehog signalling pathway members during mouse palate development.

Hedgehog signalling regulates morphogenesis of many developing organs. Sonic hedgehog (Shh) signalling has been shown to regulate the growth and morphogenesis of the palatal shelves prior to their elevation and fusion. Here, we show that Shh expression is limited to a thickened palatal oral epithelium prior to palatal shelf elevation. After palatal shelf elevation above the tongue, Shh is expressed only in small areas of thickened palatal oral epithelium that corresponded to developing rugae. The receptor Ptc1 and a regulator of Hh signalling Hhip1 are expressed in the mesenchyme adjacent to the palatal oral epithelium so that the highest level of transcripts localize to the palatal mesenchyme surrounding the Shh-expressing thickened epithelium. Smoothened and transcriptional effectors Gli1-3, and Hh regulator Gas1 are expressed widely in the palatal mesenchyme. No differences were found in the expression patterns of Hh pathway members along the anterior-posterior axis of the developing palate.

Animals↗

Effect of N'-nitrosonornicotine (NNN) on murine palatal fusion in vitro.

Maternal smoking has been linked to an increased risk for orofacial clefts. N'-nitrosonornicotine (NNN) is one of the tobacco-specific nitrosamines that has been shown to be linked to the deleterious effects of tobacco and could be linked to the formation of cleft palate birth defects. The effect of NNN on palatal fusion was examined using an in vitro organ culture model of palatal development. The organ cultures were exposed to NNN (0.01, 0.1, 1, 10 and 100 mM) and the effects on palatal development characterized at defined points. Palatal fusion was evaluated at embryonic day 13 (E13)+72 h by characterizing the remaining medial edge epithelium (MEE) and determining the extent of fusion compared to controls. The NNN-treated group (1 mM) had more MEE remaining in the palatal midline than the untreated group at E13+72 h (P<0.05). Changes in cell proliferation in the MEE resulting from NNN exposure were examined by BrdU incorporation in replicating DNA. Changes in the pattern of MEE cell death were examined by TUNEL. BrdU incorporation and TUNEL staining showed that the NNN (1 mM)-treated palates had more MEE cell proliferation and less apoptosis than the untreated-palates at E13+24 h (P<0.05). The mechanism altered by NNN was further evaluated by characterizations of extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) 1/2, p38 and c-jun amino-terminal kinase (JNK). NNN at 1 mM induced ERK1/2 phosphorylation, but reduced p38 phosphorylation (P<0.05, P<0.01, respectively) in the MEE. The results suggest that NNN inhibited palatal fusion by effects on cell proliferation and MEE cell death.

Animals↗

Development of the palatal size in Pan troglodytes, Hominids and Homo sapiens.

As the hard palate plays an important role in speech production it was the aim of this study whether similarities or dissimilarities in palatal size may allow conclusions about the ability to produce speech in the extant investigated species. The palatal size of Pan troglodytes, Homo sapiens, Australopithecus afarensis, Australopithecus africanus, Australopithecus robustus, Australopithecus boisei, Homo erectus, Homo neanderthalensis and Cro-Magnon has been investigated using euclidian distance matrix analysis (EDMA) and thin-plate-spline analysis. The results show that the palatal size of all australopithecine specimens and H. erectus is very similar to that of P toglodytes, whereas the palatal size of H. neanderthalensis more closely resembles that of H. sapiens. Postnatal development of palatal size in P troglodytes is different from that of H. sapiens. In P troglodytes not only the size of the palate changes but also the form. In H. sapiens there is little change in form, but a continuos uniform growth from infantile to adult specimens. From the results we conclude that in all australopithecine samples which have been investigated, the palatal size is similar to that of P troglodytes. Therefore, it is unlikely that austraopithecine individuals were capable of producing vowels and consonants. The palatal size of H. neandethalensis and Cro-Magnon is similar to that of H. sapiens which may indicate the possibility that they were capable of speech production.

Animals↗

Failure to thrive in babies with cleft lip and palate.

We established the frequency of failure to thrive (FTT) in children undergoing primary cleft procedures by using growth charts and standard-deviation scores. Initially, 147 babies with cleft lip and/or palate undergoing 186 primary lip-and-palate repairs were studied between 1993 and 1996. Rates of FTT were categorised according to cleft type. There was an increasing rate of FTT from 32% for unilateral cleft lip and palate to 38% for bilateral cleft lip and palate to 49% for cleft palate. There was a high incidence of FTT in palatal clefts, especially if these were associated with a syndrome or anomaly (P= 0.001). The incidence of FTT with the Pierre Robin sequence was 100%. In view of the high rates of FTT, two changes were instituted: a feeding-support nurse was appointed to supervise and monitor patients at risk and all patients with the Pierre Robin sequence had supervised airway management. Thereafter, the incidence of FTT was prospectively studied in 68 babies undergoing 84 primary procedures between 1997 and 1999. There was a decrease in the incidence of FTT in comparison with the earlier cohort (9% for unilateral cleft lip and palate, 20% for bilateral cleft lip and palate, 26% for cleft palate). There was a significant decrease in the incidence of FTT in the group with the Pierre Robin sequence, from 100% to 40%. As a result of the provision of a feeding-support nurse and airway management of patients with the Pierre Robin sequence, the incidence of FTT was reduced and the audit loop closed.

Cleft Lip↗

Gustatory function of the soft palate.

Several characteristics of the gustatory function of the soft palate principally elucidated by our own recent investigations, as well of those of others, are described. The soft palate has a gustatory function which is independent of the tongue and is innervated by the greater petrosal nerve. Taste papillae of the soft palate are morphologically similar to the fungiforme papillae which exist on the anterior part of the tongue. In individuals aged approximately 20 years, gustatory functions of the soft palate, examined by means of the electro-gustatory and filter paper disk test's are as good as those of the tongue innervated by the chorda tympani and glossopharyngeal nerve. In younger individuals, the gustatory function of the soft palate plays as important a role as that of the tongue. Gustatory thresholds of the soft palate, as well as those of other sites innervated by other taste nerves, tend to be elevated with aging, and the degree of elevation in the soft palate is much greater than that of other sites. The most sensitively perceived taste at the soft palate is a sweet taste in the majority of subjects. Taste papillae of the palate in rats become flattened and decrease in number with age. These changes are more prominent in zinc-deficient rats.

Age Factors↗

Palatal snoring identified by acoustic crest factor analysis.

The differentiation of palatal from non-palatal snoring is very important for ENT surgeons trying to determine whether palatal surgery would be curative. At present sleep nasendoscopy is the accepted method. Palatal vibration produces marked modulation of sound loudness at low frequency (below approximately 100 Hz). We calculate a crest factor for the sound waveform (ratio of peak to root mean square (rms) value in any given epoch), as a measure of the degree of modulation. Free-field snore sounds were recorded from 11 supine adult patients under intravenous sedation (midazolam), using a digital tape recorder. Recordings were transferred to a PC (sampling frequency 11 kHz), and analysed using code written by us. Direct visual confirmation of the site of snoring was gained from simultaneous sleep nasendoscopy, taken as the gold standard. In six patients the dominant site was the soft palate. The non-palatal group (five patients) comprised one epiglottic, two hypopharyngeal and two tongue base snorers. The crest factor was found to be significantly higher for palatal snorers (p < 0.01, Student-t or Mann-Whitney tests). Furthermore, palatal could be distinguished from non-palatal snorers on the basis of crest factor alone in all 11 cases, making this a promising non-invasive diagnostic technique.

Acoustics↗

Relationship between the sequence of lip and palate repair and maxillary growth: an experimental study in beagles.

The present study was designed to evaluate the relationship between varying sequences of lip and palate repair and maxillary growth. To investigate this problem, an experimental study using beagles was conducted to assess the influence of three different sequences of lip and palate repair. The first sequence constitutes the commonly accepted approach of lip repair first, palate repair second. The second sequence was reversed: palate repair first, lip repair second. The third sequence consisted of simultaneous lip and palate repair. Using 70 eight-week-old beagles, we tested the following hypothesis: The sequence of lip repair first and palate repair second is less detrimental to maxillary growth than the other two sequences. The animals were assigned to two control groups (unoperated and unrepaired animals) and three experimental groups, in which three different sequences of repair were executed. Upon sacrifice, 11 maxillary variables were measured directly from cleaned skulls and analyzed by univariate and multivariate techniques. The most important finding from this analysis is that the commonly accepted sequence of cleft lip and palate repair (lip first, palate second) is less detrimental to maxillary growth than repairing the palate first and the lip second or simultaneous closure of both defects.

Analysis of Variance↗

Uvular transposition: a new method of cleft palate repair.

This prospective study was done to determine whether a new cleft palate repair utilizing uvular transposition improved speech outcome as measured objectively by a speech pathologist. In the uvular transposition procedure, the palate was lengthened with tissue from the uvula by a double-opposing Z-plasty; an intravelar veloplasty was performed, and two-thirds of the mass of the uvula was transposed to the nasal surface of the soft palate. This procedure facilitates velopharyngeal closure by significantly lengthening the palate, anatomically reconstructing the muscles of the palate, and decreasing the palatal excursion necessary to achieve closure. Sixty-two children with a cleft palate were treated with this procedure performed by the senior surgeon between the years of 1988 and 1995. These children were then enrolled in cleft lip and palate clinic at age 2 to 3 years and blindly evaluated yearly by a single speech pathologist who specialized in pediatric speech pathology. Postoperative clinical follow-up ranged from 36 to 112 months (mean, 56.8 months). Perceptual nasal emission was found to be normal in 59 of the 62 patients (95 percent). Nasometry was performed in all 62 of these patients, and the mean score was 15.7 percent, well within the accepted normal range of 25 or less at our institution. Only two of these children (3 percent) required a pharyngeal flap for velopharyngeal insufficiency. These findings suggest that the uvula transposition cleft palate repair may result in good normalization of speech with negligible rates of velopharyngeal insufficiency.

Articulation Disorders↗

Immunolocalization of fibroblast growth factor receptors 1 and 2 in mouse palate development.

Recent evidence has implicated mutations of fibroblast growth factor receptors (FGF-R) in the pathogenesis of craniosynostotic syndromes. Cleft palate can be a component of such syndromes. The expression of FGF-R1 and FGF-R2 has been delineated in normally developing cranium, where they seem to regulate cellular differentiation and proliferation, respectively. The specific role of fibroblast growth factor signaling in mammalian palate development is unclear. The authors investigated the patterns of expression of FGF-R1 and FGF-R2 throughout mouse palatal development in the embryo. Time-dated CD-1 mouse heads (n = 135) were harvested at embryonic ages 12.5, 13.5, 14.5, 15.5, and 16.5 days (term gestation = 19.5 days), fixed in paraformaldehyde, embedded in paraffin, and sectioned. In addition, paired palatal shelves (n = 30) were isolated by means of microdissection from embryonic day--13.5 embryos, grown on Millipore filters in serum-free medium in vitro for 24, 48, 72, or 96 hours and processed for histological analysis. Immunohistochemical analysis for FGF-R1 and FGF-R2 was performed on the in vivo and in vitro specimens. FGF-R1 and FGF-R2 were found to be specifically expressed in the epithelium of the developing palatal shelves from the time of their outgrowth from the maxillary processes through completion of fusion in vivo and in vitro. Expression of both receptors was particularly strong during the phases of medial epithelial-medial epithelial contact between the individual shelves, through the formation of the medial epithelial seam, to the ultimate dissolution of the seam. Such a pattern of expression seems to implicate fibroblast growth factor signaling in the regulation of the critical phase of fusion of the bilateral shelves. The expression of both FGF-R1 and FGF-R2 in the lateral palatal mesenchyme, where such secondary structures as tooth primordia and bone begin to appear, also suggests a role for fibroblast growth factor signaling in the induction of ongoing differentiation and maturation of the palate after fusion. These data suggest that fibroblast growth factor signaling may play a role in the epithelial-mesenchymal interactions that dictate fusion and maturation of the developing palate. Furthermore, the data are consistent with the correlation of cleft palate formation with aberrant fibroblast growth factor signaling.

Animals↗

Palatal and pharyngeal reflexes in health and in motor neuron disease.

Palatal and pharyngeal sensation and motor responses, and volitional palatal movement, were tested in 171 healthy adults and 43 patients with motor neuron disease. In healthy adults palatal and pharyngeal sensation and volitional palatal elevation were present in all; the palatal and pharyngeal motor responses could not be elicited on first testing in two (1.1%) and seven (4.1%) subjects respectively. Pharyngeal motor responses were more easily elicited in older subjects and palatal responses were more easily elicited in women. Eye watering and retching were the most common accompanying features. In 57 normal subjects tested on five occasions there was considerable variation in the stimulus required to elicit the motor responses within subjects: in none of four subjects (7%) who initially had absent responses were they always absent. Pharyngeal motor responses were more easily elicited in patients with motor neuron disease than in matched normal subjects; within the motor neuron disease group pharyngeal motor responses elicited by tongue depression were associated with the symptom of food or drink "going down the wrong way" > 1/month and a reduction in average volume per swallow (ml) and swallowing capacity (ml/s). Volitional palatal elevation was absent in five patients (11.6%). In six of eight patients with motor neuron disease studied repeatedly (on between two and seven occasions) the palatal and pharyngeal responses were elicited with the same stimulus on each occasion. In healthy adults palatal and pharyngeal sensation and motor responses should be present although considerable variation occurs in the stimulus required. In patients with motor neuron disease features of impaired swallowing are associated with a brisk rather than a depressed pharyngeal response.

Adolescent↗

Study of viridans streptococci and Staphylococcus species in cleft lip and palate patients before and after surgery.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the effect of surgery on types and colony count of Streptococcus and Staphylococcus species in cleft lip and palate (CLP) patients. DESIGN: Saliva samples were collected after the morning meal by placing a sterile cotton swab in the vestibule of the oral cavity from cleft lip and palate patients immediately preoperative and 12 weeks postoperative. Normal children were examined as a control group. Samples were cultured; Staphylococcus and Streptococcus isolates were identified and quantified. PATIENTS: Fifteen cleft lip and palate patients and 22 normal children, aged 3 to 39 months were examined. RESULTS: Streptococcus mitis biovar 1, Streptococcus salivarius and Streptococcus oralis of the viridans group of streptococci were the most commonly found in normal children, as well as in cleft lip and palate children. In the cleft lip and palate group, mean streptococcal count was 32.41 (29.80) and 46.46 (42.80) in the pre- and postoperative periods, respectively; in the normal group, the count was 20.93 (27.93) and 49.92 (34.72) at 0 week and 12 weeks, respectively. Staphylococcus aureus was the most common Staphylococcus species found in CLP patients, representing 47.4% postoperatively. In the cleft lip and palate children, mean staphylococcal count was 5.34 (8.13) and 0.56 (0.92) in the pre- and postoperative periods, respectively; in normal children, the count was 0.82 (1.98) and 0.60 (2.55) at 0 and 12 weeks, respectively. The differences were statistically significant only for the staphylococcal count between pre- and postoperative periods in children with cleft lip and palate as tested by analysis of variance (p < .05). CONCLUSIONS: Cleft lip and palate patients had more colonization by S. aureus compared with normal children, and the colony count decreased significantly following surgical repair of the cleft lip and palate.

Analysis of Variance↗

Conversational skills of preschool and school-age children with cleft lip and palate.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to examine the conversational skills of preschool and school-age children with cleft lip and palate. DESIGN: The children were audio- and videotaped during interactions with an unfamiliar adult. In addition, standardized measures of speech and language were administered, and ratings of resonance were obtained. Comparisons were made between the children with cleft lip and palate and their same-age peers on measures of conversational participation and a standardized test of pragmatic skills. PARTICIPANTS: Participants were 20 children with unilateral cleft lip and palate (10 preschoolers and 10 school-age children) recruited from the Craniofacial Team at Rainbow Babies and Children's Hospital, Cleveland (OH) and 20 noncleft peers matched for gender, age, and socioeconomic status. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Separate comparisons were made for the preschool children with cleft lip and palate and their noncleft peers, and the school-age children with cleft lip and palate and their noncleft peers on eight measures of conversational assertiveness/responsiveness and the standardized tests of pragmatics. Next, each child with cleft lip and palate was classified for level of conversational participation. RESULTS: Paired t tests revealed no significant differences between the preschool and school-age children with cleft lip and palate and their noncleft peers in level of conversational participation. However, individual child comparisons revealed less assertive profiles of conversational participation for 50% of the preschool and 20% of the school-age children with cleft lip and palate. CONCLUSIONS: Children with cleft lip and palate may show a less assertive style of conversational participation, at least during the preschool years. Therefore, craniofacial team evaluations should include examination of conversational competency, particularly for children who are demonstrating difficulty with other aspects of speech, language, or social development.

Child↗

Is isolated palatal anomaly an indication to screen for 22q11 region deletion?

OBJECTIVE: Velocardiofacial syndrome (VCFS) is the most common multiple anomaly disorder associated with palatal clefting. Cytogenetic hemizygous deletion of 22q11 region is found in 80% of patients. The frequency of 22q11 deletion in patients presenting with isolated palatal anomalies has not been fully assessed. Our objective was to determine the frequency of the deletion in patients with isolated palatal anomalies. DESIGN: Patients were referred because of velopharyngeal insufficiency because of isolated congenital palatal anomalies. Diagnosis of palatal anomalies was confirmed by videonasopharyngoscopy, multiview videofluoroscopy and cephalometry. Other clinical findings suggestive of VCFS were sought, and subjects with these characteristics were excluded from the study. Peripheral blood samples from all patients were analyzed cytogenetically utilizing fluorescent in situ hybridization for the 22q11 region. RESULTS: Thirty-eight patients aged 3 to 31 years were included in the study. Nine had cleft palate, 7 cleft lip and palate, 10 overt and 11 occult submucous cleft palate, and 1 had a deep nasopharynx. No deletion of 22q11 region was detected in any of the evaluated patients. CONCLUSIONS: A routine screening for the 22q11 deletion in older children and adults presenting with an isolated palatal anomaly may not be required. Because other signs related to VCFS such as facial dysmorphism and behavioral or psychiatric disorders may evolve at an older age, young patients should be followed up and reevaluated for additional relevant symptoms that may lead to deletion evaluation. In light of the fact that the current literature is inconsistent, the relative small size of this study and the significant consequences of missed 22q11.2 deletion, more information is needed before definitive recommendations can be made.

Adolescent↗

Growth impairment of children with different types of lip and palate clefts in the first 2 years of life: a cross-sectional study.

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the differences in growth impairment according to sex in the 2 first years of life in children with three types of clefts. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study of 881 children (58.9% boys and 41.1% girls) with cleft lip and palate treated at the Craniofacial Anomaly Rehabilitation Hospital, (University of São Paulo, Bauru, SP), Brazil. Age ranged from 1 to 24 months. Three types of clefts were evaluated: isolated cleft lip (181/20.5%), isolated cleft palate (157/17.8%) and cleft lip + palate (543/61.6%). Weight and length measurements and data regarding breast-feeding and socioeconomic level were obtained. Children with weight and length below the 10th percentile of the NCHS reference were considered to have impaired growth. RESULTS: Sample distribution according to cleft type and sex was similar to that observed in other epidemiological studies. Breast-feeding was more frequent in the isolated cleft lip group (45.9%) then in the isolated cleft palate (12.1%) or cleft lip + palate group (10.5%). Isolated cleft lip children showed less marked impairment of weight (23.8%) and length (19.3%) compared to the cleft lip + palate group (35.7% and 33.1%, respectively). In the latter group, the proportion of children with weight and length below the 10th percentile was very close to that of the isolated cleft palate group (34.4% and 38.9%). CONCLUSIONS: The impairment in weight and length was more severe in cleft lip + palate and isolated cleft palate children and may be attributed to feeding difficulties compared to the isolated cleft lip group.

Body Height↗