Cleft lip and palate pathophysiology
|
Cleft lip and palate Microchapters |
|
Diagnosis |
|---|
|
Treatment |
|
Case Studies |
|
Cleft lip and palate pathophysiology On the Web |
|
American Roentgen Ray Society Images of Cleft lip and palate pathophysiology |
|
Risk calculators and risk factors for Cleft lip and palate pathophysiology |
Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]
Overview
Pathophysiology
Cleft lip
If only skin tissue is affected one speaks of cleft lip. Cleft lip is formed in the top of the lip as either a small gap or an indentation in the lip (partial or incomplete cleft) or continues into the nose (complete cleft). Lip cleft can occur as one sided (unilateral) or two sided (bilateral). It is due to the failure of fusion of the maxillary and medial nasal processes (formation of the primary palate).
-
Unilateral incomplete
-
Unilateral complete -
Bilateral complete
A mild form of a cleft lip is a microform cleft. A microform cleft can appear as small as a little dent in the red part of the lip or look like a scar from the lip up to the nostril. In some cases muscle tissue in the lip underneath the scar is affected and might require reconstructive surgery. It is advised to have newborn infants with a microform cleft checked with a craniofacial team as soon as possible to determine the severeness of the cleft. The actor Joaquin Phoenix is an example of a person with a microform cleft that did not require surgery.
-
3 months old boy before going into surgery to have his unilateral incomplete cleft lip repaired. -
The same boy, 1 month after the surgery. -
Again the same boy, age 1.5 years old. Note how the scar gets less visible with age.
Cleft palate
Cleft palate is a condition in which the two plates of the skull that form the hard palate (roof of the mouth) are not completely joined. The soft palate is in these cases cleft as well. In most cases, cleft lip is also present. Cleft palate occurs in about one in 700 live births worldwide.[1]
Palate cleft can occur as complete (soft and hard palate, possibly including a gap in the jaw) or incomplete (a 'hole' in the roof of the mouth, usually as a cleft soft palate). When cleft palate occurs, the uvula is usually split.It occurs due to the failure of fusion of the lateral palatine processes, the nasal septum, and/or the median palatine processes (formation of the secondary palate).
The hole in the roof of the mouth caused by a cleft connects the mouth directly to the nasal cavity.
Note: the next images show the roof of the mouth. The top shows the nose, the lips are colored pink. For clarity the images depict a toothless infant.
-
Incomplete cleft palate -
Unilateral complete lip and palate -
Bilateral complete lip and palate
A direct result of an open connection between the oral cavity and nasal cavity is velopharyngeal insufficiency (VPI).
References
- ↑ "Statistics by country for cleft palate". WrongDiagnosis.com. Retrieved 2007-04-24.