What Is Cleft Lip And Cleft Palate? What Causes Cleft Lip And Cleft Palate?

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Main Category: Pediatrics / Children's Health
Also Included In: Cosmetic Medicine / Plastic Surgery;  Ear, Nose and Throat;  Pregnancy / Obstetrics
Article Date: 22 Sep 2009 - 2:00 PST

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Cleft lip and cleft palate are among the most frequent birth defects in newborns. About one in 700 infants a year in the United States and one in 600 in the United Kingdom are affected.

A cleft is characterized as an opening or a split in the upper lip, the roof of the mouth (palate) or sometimes both.

Cleft can have an effect on one side of the lip (unilateral cleft) or both sides of the upper lip (bilateral cleft). Most of the time, they come about as isolated birth defects, but they can also be coupled with several genetic and environmental factors which will be later explained.

The look of a cleft lip can be shocking due to the disfiguration on the newborns' face. However, as surgical techniques have advanced, cleft lip and cleft palate are both correctable these days. In the majority of cases surgeons can bring back normal function with minimal scarring on the child.

Cleft birth defects are more frequent in children from northern European and Asian origin, and less common in children of African ancestry. Cleft lip and a combination of a cleft lip and palate are more common in boys, as opposed to cleft palate on its own, which is more common in girls.

Roughly 25% of affected children will be born with a cleft lip, 50% will be born with a cleft lip and a cleft palate, and 25% will be born with a cleft palate.

What are the signs and symptoms of cleft lip and cleft palate?

A cleft (split) in the lip or palate is immediately identifiable at birth due to the unusual physical appearance on the lip. Clefts are characterized as only a small slash in the lip. In some severe cases it can extend from the lip through the upper gum and palate, and even all the way into the nose. In less common cases, a cleft can also occur in the muscles of the soft palate (referred to as submucous cleft), which is at the back of the mouth. Since it is hidden by the mouth's lining, this type of cleft is sometimes not diagnosed straight away.


Several important signs and symptoms can be associated with cleft lip and palate:

• Atypical appearance - The appearance of the face is noticeably unusual and deformed.


• Feeding problems - Since a newborn baby is usually breastfed, a baby with a cleft lip and/or palate may have trouble suckling, or swallowing milk. This is because they cannot generate a vacuum in their mouths. As a result, they take in too much air during feeding.
  
  In cases where a cleft is very large, it may be even necessary to feed the baby through a tube that goes into the nose (a nasogastric tube) until the reconstructive surgery has been scheduled and completed.


• Ear infections and hearing impairments - Children with cleft palates are especially vulnerable to middle ear infections. Over time this can cause damage to their hearing. This is because children with a cleft develop glue ear - a sticky fluid builds up behind the eardrum. Usually, this sticky fluid can drain away in the Eustachian tube that links the ear and the throat. However, this tube can become distorted by a cleft palate. During surgery surgeons often put a tiny plastic tube (a grommet) into the eardrum so that the fluid can drain out.


• Speech and language problems - our lips and palate are vital components for the utterance of proper sounds for clear speech. Children with a cleft lip and palate commonly have speech development problems. Their voices may often have a nasal sound, and problems uttering consonants properly are common.


• Dental health - A cleft lip and palate cause alterations to the formation of the mouth and can lead to problems with the development of teeth, making children more susceptible to tooth decay. Teeth near the cleft may be missing, or they may grow out at different angles. Extra teeth may grow where they shouldn't, resulting in problems with the development of a child's jaw.
  
  Most patients will require orthodontic treatment to make sure their teeth grow straight and in the right places. This usually involves wearing braces or brackets when the second teeth are coming through and during their early teens. The child may also need to have some teeth removed to avoid overcrowding, or even have implants to replace missing teeth.

How is cleft and lip palate formed and when can it be diagnosed?

Cleft and lip palate starts as early as between five and twelve weeks of pregnancy when the development of the skull, the palate, and tissue of the tongue takes place in the embryo. In this phase the skull begins as two separate plates of bone and tissue that increasingly move together and fuse around the mouth and nose to form into one piece.

In children with clefts, the cycle of the fusion between the bone and tissue that form the skull remains unfinished, resulting in a gap, or cleft.

Cleft in a fetus will often be detected with simple routine ultrasound examinations taken between 18 to 20 weeks of pregnancy. If the scan reveals that the unborn baby has a cleft lip or palate, further studies will have to be conducted in specialized treatment centers.

Genetic and environmental risk factors

Genetic risk factors

Studies indicate that the genes children inherit from their parents can determine the risk of developing a cleft lip, or palate.

Exactly how the pattern of genetic inheritance operates is still not completely understood. We can, however, estimate what the risks are:

• A father with a unilateral cleft (on one side of the lip) has about a 5% chance of fathering a boy with a cleft, and just over a 2% chance of fathering a girl with a cleft.


• A father with a bilateral cleft (on both sides of the lip) has an 11.5% chance of fathering a boy with a cleft, and about a 5% chance of fathering a girl with a cleft.


• A mother with a unilateral cleft has a 4.5% chance of giving birth to a boy with a cleft, and about a 3% chance of giving birth to a girl with a cleft.


• A mother with a bilateral cleft has about a 17% chance of giving birth to a boy with a cleft, and just over a 7.5% chance of giving birth to a girl with a cleft.

Environmental risk factors

Doctors cannot yet reliably predict which pregnancies will be affected. But the following environmental risk factors may increase the risks:

• Maternal smoking - A mother who smokes during pregnancy doubles the chances that her child will be born with a cleft.


• Maternal alcohol consumption - A mother who drinks more than 10 units of alcohol a month increases the chances that her child will be born with a cleft by a factor of four.


• Maternal obesity - Mothers who are obese have a slightly higher chance of giving birth to a child with a cleft.


• Lack of folic acid during pregnancy - All pregnant women are recommended to take a daily supplement of folic acid during the first four months of pregnancy. If folic acid supplements are not taken, women are twice as likely to give birth to a baby with a cleft compared to other women.

Surgeries of cleft and lip palate

Surgery is done when the baby is aged between three to twelve months. The specialty center where the operation occurs will set up a team of various specialists who will be involved in the health and development of the child until he/she is 18 years old. The team typically consists of cleft nurses, surgeons, speech and language therapists, hearing experts (audiologists), dentists, orthodontists, psychologists and geneticists.

The type of surgery depends on the severity of the cleft. All the operations are done under general anesthesia, and the baby will need to stay in hospital for three to five days after the procedure.

The child might need follow up surgeries later on in life to improve the appearance of his lip and nose and the function of his palate, as well as to improve speech. If there is a gap in the child's gum, the infant will usually have a bone implant when he/she is about 9 or 10 years old. This will help the adult teeth anchor into the gum properly.

• Lip-repair surgery
  
  Lip-repair surgery is usually carried out when the newborn is three months old. The Millard repair procedure is usually used. It is named after the pioneering plastic surgeon, Ralph Millard (born 1919, St. Louis, Missouri, USA), who first performed it. In 2000, Dr. Millard was nominated as one of only 10 "Plastic Surgeons of the Millennium" by the members of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons. In the April 2000 issue of Plastic Surgery News, Dr. Millard is described as "the most brilliant and creative plastic surgeon we have alive".
  
  During this procedure, the surgeon will make a slit on either side of the cleft lip. The cleft lip is pulled down and rotated to make a more natural-looking appearance. It is then stitched into place.
  
  The operation leaves a slight scar, but the surgeon will always attempt to line up the scar with the natural lines of the lip in order to make it less apparent.
  
  Speech is normally recovered after surgery has been performed successfully.


• Palate-repair surgery
  
  Palate-repair surgery is typically performed when the child is aged between 6 to 12 months. During this surgery, the surgeon will take tissue from either side of the mouth and use it to rebuild the palate and join the muscles together.
  
  In this case, the child will find it harder to pronounce some sounds clearly. Approximately 20% of the children will have to take speech therapy to gain proper speech. Some might even require other surgeries to reduce the amount of air going through their nose in order to improve the quality of their utterances.

Coping with cleft after the operation

A child born with a cleft may be teased or bullied at school because he looks and/or sounds different. Children usually react to the unknown out of fear and embarrassment. It is best to deal with this by providing simple explanations of the child's condition.

It is essential to encourage the child to interact with other children from an early age, in order to learn to handle different circumstances early on. Children are naturally curious and will often ask direct questions. Straightforward explanation about the condition must always be given to the child so that he/she can reply when asked by friends.

In almost all cases, cleft lip and/or palate itself has no relation to mental function. Very rarely, a child may have a cleft lip or palate in combination with other defects, which may include mental deficiency. Doctors will usually be able to recognize this at birth or in the first few months of life.

The hearing and speech problems resulting from the cleft lip or palate may possibly put the child at a disadvantage in school.

Hearing problems may reduce the child's attention span and concentration in school. In addition, problems with speech can affect the ability to communicate. These factors may hold the child back in class. Regular hearing checks and monitoring with a speech-and-language therapist can help to avoid this.

Psychological impact of clefts on children

A cleft can also have a psychological impact on a child, particularly as they get older and mix with other children. Parents should remain completely open about the nature of the child's condition as soon as they are old enough to understand. At home, the topic must be treated as normal everyday conversation. Parents must focus on the child as an individual rather than on the cleft defect.

It is best to be realistic about the possible length and likely outcomes of treatment that the child might require which could last for up to 20 years.

Parents should try to promote the attitude that physical appearance counts for very little when compared to less superficial qualities.

Encouraging the child to take part in extra-curricular activities can help to boost their self-confidence and widen their circle of friends.

In the long-term, most children with clefts successfully manage to grow up into well-adjusted adults. There is no evidence that they experience any more psychological problems than the general population at large.

Tooth decay

Children with clefts have an increased vulnerability to tooth decay before and after their operations. The reason for this is in part due to abnormalities in the tooth development. Bacteria may also accumulate within the orthodontic appliances patients need to wear, resulting in further susceptibility to tooth decay.

The following steps may help prevent complications related to tooth decay:

• Have the child's teeth checked at least once every six months.


• Brush their teeth after every main meal, and once or twice during school hours.


• Floss their teeth at least once-a-day. Younger children may have difficulty learning how to floss correctly, so a dentist or a dental hygienist may need to teach them.


• A once-daily use of a fluoride mouthwash will reduce the bacteria count.


• Keep the consumption of sweet and sticky foods down to a minimum.


• Keep the consumption of sugary drinks down to a minimum.

Prevention

The best way to prevent giving birth to a child with a cleft is to avoid smoking, and drinking alcohol during pregnancy. This will also help to prevent more serious birth defects from occurring.

Health authorities in most countries recommend that all women should take a daily supplement of 0.4mg of folic acid before they conceive, and for the first 12 weeks of pregnancy, while the embryo's spine develops.

This advice cannot guarantee that a child will not develop a cleft. Many mothers who have followed all relevant healthcare advice during pregnancy have given birth to babies with clefts.

Written by Stephanie Brunner
Copyright: Medical News Today
Not to be reproduced without permission of Medical News Today