What are cleft lip and cleft
palate ?
The good news is that both cleft lip and palate are
treatable birth defects. Most infants who are born with it can have early
neonatal reconstructive surgery to correct the cleft lip and hence significantly
improve facial appearance.
A cleft lip is a separation of each sides of the
lip. The separation often includes the bones of the upper jaw. A cleft
palate is an opening in the roof of the mouth due to the non-fusion of the
palate that should normally have developed before birth. Cleft lip and cleft
palate can occur either on one side, or on both sides. Since the lip and
the palate develop separately, it is possible for the child to have a cleft lip,
or only a cleft palate, or else both of them (Fig. 1-4). One out
of 500 in France is born with a cleft lip and/or palate [1,2]. We do
not know the reason of the failure of the joining up process fails in
this way. Some evidence suggests that there may be a combination of genetic and
environmental factors.
Figure
1. A. Unilateral cleft lip, B. bilateral cleft lip.
| A. |
B. |
 |
 |
Figure 2. Right unilateral labio-alveolar
cleft.
Figure
3. A. Unilateral cleft lip and palate. B. bilateral cleft lip
and palate.
Figure
4. Cleft palate
1.
J.N. Mcheik et al. Réparation chirurgicale néonatale
des fentes labiales : impact psychologique chez les mères. Archives de Pédiatrie
2006 ; 13 ; 346-51.
2.
J.N. Mcheik et al.
Fentes
labiopalatines. Analyse épidémiologique: à propos de 60 cas. Ann.
Chir. Plast. Esthét. 2000; 45:
425-9.