Craniofacial and pharyngeal cephalometric morphology in seven-year-old boys with unoperated submucous cleft palate and without a cleft.

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate cephalometrically the craniofacial and pharyngeal morphology in 7-year-old boys with unoperated submucous cleft palate and to compare the findings with the morphology of 7-year-old boys without clefts.

SETTING AND PATIENTS: Thirty-two boys with unoperated submucous cleft palate and 49 boys without a cleft were compared retrospectively from lateral cephalograms taken at the mean age of 7 years (range, 5.5 to 8.6 years).

DESIGN

A retrospective case-control study.

OUTCOME MEASURE: Linear and angular measurements were obtained from lateral cephalograms. A Student's t test was used in the statistical analysis.

RESULTS

The maxilla of the boys with submucous cleft palate was shorter and slightly more retrusive in relation to the cranial base than that of boys without clefts. Also, the mandible of the boys with submucous cleft palate was smaller, with a steeper mandibular plane. The relationship between the jaws was similar in both groups; although, those without clefts showed higher values for soft tissue maxillary prominence. In the pharyngeal area, the boys with submucous cleft palate had larger nasopharyngeal depths, smaller hypopharyngeal depths, and shorter soft palates than the boys without a cleft.

CONCLUSIONS

This small study suggests that the boys with unoperated submucous cleft palate have minor distinctive morphological features in the maxillary, mandibular, and pharyngeal areas.