Speech in a consecutive series of children born with cleft lip and palate with and without syndromes and/or additional malformations

Surgical treatment of velopharyngeal dysfunction: Incidence and associated factors in the Swedish cleft palate population

INTRODUCTION

Speech in children with cleft palate can be affected by velopharyngeal dysfunction, which persists after primary palate repair. The incidence of surgery to correct velopharyngeal dysfunction in this patient group has previously been reported as 2.6-37%. We aimed to investigate the incidence of velopharyngeal dysfunction surgery in Swedish children with cleft palate and to examine potential associations of independent variables with this incidence.

METHODS

In this cohort study, we analysed data from the Swedish cleft lip and palate quality registry for 1093 children with cleft palate with or without cleft lip. Kaplan-Meier analysis was used to estimate the risk of having velopharyngeal dysfunction surgery. Multivariable Cox proportional hazards models were used to estimate the associated effect of cleft subtype, additional diagnoses, gender, and age at and number of stages for primary palate repair on the primary outcome.

RESULTS

The risk of having velopharyngeal dysfunction surgery was 25.6%. Complete primary palate repair after the age of 18 months or in more than one stage was associated with a higher risk, but it could not be determined which of these was the more significant factor. Cleft soft palate was associated with a significantly lower risk than other cleft subtypes.

CONCLUSIONS

Primary palate repair at a higher age or in more than one stage may increase the risk of having velopharyngeal dysfunction surgery. Further analysis of potential unknown confounding factors and the association between the incidence of velopharyngeal dysfunction and surgery to correct this condition is needed.

Using "Real-World Data" to Study Cleft Lip/Palate Care: An Exploration of Speech Outcomes from a Multi-Center US Learning Health Network

OBJECTIVE

To assess the ability of a cleft-specific multi-site learning health network registry to describe variations in cleft outcomes by cleft phenotypes, ages, and treatment centers. Observed variations were assessed for coherence with prior study findings.

DESIGN

Cross-sectional analysis of prospectively collected data from 2019-2022.

SETTING

Six cleft treatment centers collected data systematically during routine clinic appointments according to a standardized protocol.

PARTICIPANTS

714 English-speaking children and adolescents with non-syndromic cleft lip/palate.

INTERVENTION

Routine multidisciplinary care and systematic outcomes measurement by cleft teams.

OUTCOME MEASURES

Speech outcomes included articulatory accuracy measured by Percent Consonants Correct (PCC), velopharyngeal function measured by Velopharyngeal Competence (VPC) Rating Scale (VPC-R), intelligibility measured by caregiver-reported Intelligibility in Context Scale (ICS), and two CLEFT-Q™ surveys, in which patients rate their own speech function and level of speech distress.

RESULTS

12year-olds exhibited high median PCC scores (91-100%), high frequency of velopharyngeal competency (62.50-100%), and high median Speech Function (80-91) relative to younger peers parsed by phenotype. Patients with bilateral cleft lip, alveolus, and palate reported low PCC scores (51-91%) relative to peers at some ages and low frequency of velopharyngeal competency (26.67%) at 5 years. ICS scores ranged from 3.93-5.0 for all ages and phenotypes. Speech Function and Speech Distress were similar across phenotypes.

CONCLUSIONS

This exploration of speech outcomes demonstrates the current ability of the cleft-specific registry to support cleft research efforts as a source of "real-world" data. Further work is focused on developing robust methodology for hypothesis-driven research and causal inference.

Long-term Follow-up of Bilateral Cleft Lip and Palate: Incidence of Speech-Correcting Surgeries and Fistula Formation

While bilateral cleft lip and palate (BCLP) constitutes a clinical challenge for the whole cleft team, the ideal surgical protocol remains obscure. This study presents the long-term burden of care in terms of secondary surgeries, defined as fistula repair and speech-correcting surgeries (SCS), in a single center. Outcomes of two surgical protocols utilized over the years were also compared.

A retrospective single-center analysis of 81 non-syndromic children with complete BCLP born between 1990 and 2010. Two surgical protocols comprising single-stage and two-stage (delayed hard palate closure) procedures were compared. Outcome was analyzed at the time of alveolar bone grafting (ABG) and post-ABG.

Altogether 54 children (66.7%) had underwent secondary surgery by the time of bilateral ABG. At this point, 38.3% (n = 31) of patients had received SCS and 49.4% (n = 40) had undergone fistula repair. The corresponding incidences at the end of follow-up were 46.9% (n = 38) and 53.1% (n = 43). No significant difference emerged in SCS incidence between the 2 protocols; however, prior to ABG the single-stage protocol had a significantly lower need for fistula repair. Regarding the location of fistulas, some differences were observed, with the single-stage procedure more associated with anterior fistulas.

BCLP has a high surgical burden of care in terms of secondary surgeries, defined as SCS and fistula repair. In our experience, the single-stage protocol, particularly the two-flap technique, offers better results in the management of BCLP than the two-stage approach with a short delay in hard palate closure.

Knowledge assessment on cleft lip and palate among recently graduated dentists: a cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND

The complex presentation, associated co-morbidities and multi-disciplinary requirements dictate the requirement for in-depth knowledge in order to effectively manage patients with cleft lip and palate (CLP). We aimed to develop a validated questionnaire for cleft lip and palate knowledge assessment and to evaluate the knowledge of cleft lip and palate among a group of recently-graduated dentists.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A multiple-site, cross-sectional questionnaire-based study was conducted. The study population included recently graduated dentists involved in a dental internship program. A bespoke questionnaire was developed and validated, with internal consistency assessed using Cronbach's alpha and factor analysis performed. A 47-item prototype was distilled into a 15-item questionnaire. This was distributed to the participants with a response rate of 67% obtained.

RESULTS

The overall proportion of correct responses among dental interns was moderate (73%). The best results were found in relation to CLP treatment including the effect of unfavorable surgical outcomes on speech (89.5%) and the impact of CLP on the occlusion (87.6%). The lowest rate of correct responses (26.7%) was identified in relation to the association between CLP and smoking.

CONCLUSION

A validated CLP questionnaire was developed, permitting evaluation of the knowledge of cleft lip and palate and its management among recently graduated dentists. There is limited appreciation among dental interns of the risk factors for CLP as well as post-surgical complications. Given that general dentists are often the gatekeepers for the management of patients with cleft lip and palate, it is important that the findings of this survey are used to inform the curriculum and teaching of cleft lip and palate.