Morphological Presentation of Orofacial Clefts: An Epidemiological Study of 5004 Patients in a Tertiary Care Hospital of Central India

Abstract

Objective: To analyse the morphological presentation of orofacial clefts, gender, syndromes and systemic anomalies associated with them. Design: This was an epidemiological study performed in the patients who were registered for cleft lip and palate surgeries in our centre. The data was evaluated both retrospectively as well as prospectively. Patients/ Participants: The patients registered from November 2006 to April 2021 were studied. Out of 5276 patients, data of 5004 cases were analysed, rest 272 patients were excluded due to lack of information. Statistical analysis and Chi square test were applied. Results: Cleft deformities were more common in males than females. Cleft lip with palate was the commonest phenotype (52.2%). It was followed by isolated cleft lip (22.9%), isolated cleft palate (22.1%), rare clefts (1.62%) and syndromic clefts (1.18%). Unilateral variants were more frequent than bilateral. In unilateral, left side was more common than the right side. Among bilateral, most of the cases had premaxillary protrusion. In the present study, 3.46% of all the patients had associated anomalies affecting their other organs. Less common cleft phenotypes like microform cleft lip and submucous cleft palate ± bifid uvula showed frequency of 0.62% and 0.64% respectively. Conclusion: Thorough examination of cleft deformity should be done as it may appear as an isolated deformity or part of a syndrome and have associated systemic anomalies. This may help us to deliver comprehensive care to the patients and can prevent potential operative complications.