Cleft lip and palate pathophysiology
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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).
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Unilateral incomplete
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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.
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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.
