Cor pulmonale secondary to cleft palate repair. Case report.

A case of cor pulmonale occurred as a complication of a simultaneous palatoplasty and a superiorly-based pharyngeal flap. The patient, like two others found in the literature, had micrognathia. The cor pulmonale was not recognized in the immediate postoperative period but presented two years later with "failure to thrive." Therefore, surgeons must make other members of the health care team aware of this possible complication of combined palatoplasty and pharyngeal flap operations.