One-stage closure of isolated cleft palate with the Veau-Wardill-Kilner V-Y push-back method or the Cronin modification. Cephalometric comparison of nasopharynx.

The craniofacial structure of 116 consecutive patients with isolated cleft palate was studied by lateral cephalograms at 17-20 years of age. One-stage soft- and hard-palate closure had been done with the Veau-Wardill-Kilner or the Cronin mucoperiosteal palatal V-Y push-back method at the mean age of 1.8 years. The patients treated with the Veau-Wardill-Kilner method showed larger sagittal depths of the bony nasopharynx and nasopharyngeal airway but smaller thickness of the soft tissue on the posterior nasopharyngeal wall. The sagittal depth of the nasopharyngeal airway was larger in patients who had had secondary palatal operations. The effect of sex was significant, males having larger dimensions.