Longitudinal Study of Craniofacial Growth in Subjects with Cleft Lip and Palate: From Cheiloplasty to 8 Years of Age

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Craniofacial morphology was compared in 10 patients with unilateral cleft lip and alveolus (UCLA), 33 with complete unilateral cleft lip and palate (UCLP), and 14 patients with isolated cleft palate (CP). Serial lateral and posteroanterior cephalograms, obtained just before lip repair at 4 months or palatoplasty at 2 years, and at 4 and 8 years of age, were analyzed through comparisons with the means and growth increments of craniofacial dimensions. Facial forms at 8 years of age were compared with those of 33 noncleft subjects. Wider upper facial width before lip repair in the UCLP patients diminished slightly following surgery, but the condition persisted up to 8 years of age. Less forward growth of the maxilla was found in the subjects who received palatoplasty and a larger vertical growth increment in anterior maxilla occurred in the UCLP patients. Posterior maxillary height showed no significant differences in its growth increment among patients with clefts, but shorter posterior maxillary height in the UCLP patients continued. Linear dimensions of the mandible did not differ among cleft subjects, but a larger intercondylar width, a larger gonial angle, and a slightly retruded mandible in the CP patients and UCLP patients suggested compensation of the mandible to a wider and retroinclined nasomaxillary complex.