Cephalometric profile evaluations in patients with cleft lip and palate

Abstract

This study was done to determine those abnormal cephalometric features found in adult cleft lip and palate patients. The sample population consisted of 30 randomly selected white patients with cleft lip and palate who were treated by the same team that had been accredited by the American Cleft Palate-Craniofacial Association. Twenty patients had unilateral complete clefts, and 10 had bilateral complete clefts. Thirteen different cephalometric parameters were measured and compared with normal. The results from this study showed that there were few statistically significant differences between the unilateral and bilateral cleft palate patient populations. There were only three measurements that had statistically significant differences between the unilateral cleft patients and the bilateral cleft patients: subnasale-stomion, subnasale-stomion: stomion-soft-tissue menton, and subnasale-lower lip vermillion: lower lip vermillion-soft tissue menton. However, 10 of the 13 measurements had statistically significant variations from normal. These measurements included subnasale=stomion; stomion=soft tissue menton, subnasale=lower lip vermillion; lower lip vermillion=soft tissue menton, interlabial distance, subnasale-perpendicular to upper lip, subnasale-perpendicular to lower lip, subnasale-perpendicular to chin, angle formed between sella turcica=nasion and nasion=A=point, maxillary depth angle, A-point to nasion-pogonion, and angle formed between A=point=nasion and nasion=B=point. The data indicated that a multiplicity of vertical and horizontal abnormalities exist in the person with cleft lip and palate in addition to the well-known transverse deficiencies, and that cephalometric abnormalities are not limited to anteroposterior maxillary deficiency.