A Very Rare Cause of Asymmetric Velopharyngeal Incompetence: Unilateral Palate Hypoplasia

Abstract

Asymmetric velopharyngeal incompetence (VPI) may be caused by neuromuscular disorders, trauma, tumor resection, cleft palate, or unilateral hypoplasia of the velum and pharynx. However, VPI due to isolated unilateral hypoplasia is extremely rare. In this case report, a 4-year-old girl with unilateral palate hypoplasia and her two-staged management is presented. The speech quality of the patient improved noticeably after these procedures. The first stage allowed us to make the second stage pharyngeal flap more conservatively than possible in a one-stage procedure. We think that this two-step procedure could be an alternative to other methods in the treatment of asymmetric VPI.