Long-Term, Longitudinal Follow-Up of Individuals with UCLP After the Gothenburg Primary Early Veloplasty and Delayed Hard Palate Closure Protocol: Maxillofacial Growth Outcome.

• Abstract Objective: To study long-term maxillofacial development in a sample of patients born with unilateral cleft lip and palate (UCLP). The patients' palatal repair had been performed according to a two-stage protocol with early velar closure and delayed hard palate surgery. Design: Retrospective longitudinal cohort study. Subjects: The sample consisted of 50 consecutive patients with UCLP born from 1980 to 1989. All of them had been operated on at the Sahlgrenska University Hospital in Gothenburg, Sweden. Methods: Certain maxillary casts as well as lateral roentgencephalograms, obtained at 5; 10; 16; and 19 years of age, were analyzed. Results: Our patients' maxillofacial growth was very good even up to the final examination at early adulthood. We ascribe the advantageous midfacial morphology of our patients particularly to limited growth restriction from palatal scars due to the surgical protocol used in our cleft center. Conclusion: The two-stage protocol advocated by us for repair of the palatal cleft resulted in very satisfactory growth outcome. A palatal scar, that might impair maxillary development, was created only by the velar surgery. If this scar was located close to the posterior border of the hard palate, it might result in less maxillary growth restriction than if it was positioned further anteriorly. Key Words: Cephalometrics, cleft lip and palate, delayed hard palate repair, growth, maxilla, surgery.

Ämnesord

MEDICIN OCH HÄLSOVETENSKAP  -- Klinisk medicin -- Kirurgi (hsv//swe)

MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES  -- Clinical Medicine -- Surgery (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

cephalometrics

cleft lip and palate

delayed hard palate repair

growth

maxilla

surgery

Publikations- och innehållstyp

ref (ämneskategori)

art (ämneskategori)