Velopharyngeal function for speech after the Frolova primary palatoplasty technique.

OBJECTIVE: This study was undertaken by several members of the University of Florida Craniofacial Center to assess the results of palatoplasty performed by the method devised by Larisa Y. Frolova, M.D. in 1971. DESIGN: The assessment was based on evaluation of each subject's speech and velopharyngeal function through perceptual measures, nasometry, and video-nasendoscopy. SETTING: The study took place at the National Pediatric Center for Congenital Maxillofacial Pathology, Moscow, Russia, under the auspices and with the cooperation of Dr. Frolova, director of the program. SUBJECTS: One hundred twelve children (40 girls and 72 boys; age range, 4 to 10 years; mean age, 7.5 years) with repaired cleft palate who had undergone palatoplasty 2 to 4 years earlier and had no secondary surgery were randomly selected from the center's clinical files by the staff. Subjects with known conditions that could jeopardize normal speech development were excluded. METHODS: Each subject was assessed for speech and velopharyngeal function with a battery of perceptual measures and videonasendoscopy. RESULTS: The percentage of subjects judged to have normal resonance was 55.5%. An additional 9.5% of the subjects judged to be hyponasal increased the rate of nonhypernasal outcome to 64%. CONCLUSIONS: The Furlow double-Z palatoplasty has had an increasing rate of success (up to 87%), whereas the Frolova technique has a success rate of only 55% to 65%.

Oral health status of Russian children with unilateral cleft lip and palate.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the oral and dental health of Russian children who underwent Frolova primary palatoplasty. DESIGN: Eighty-nine children (62 boys and 27 girls; age range, 5 to 9 years) who had undergone repair of unilateral cleft lip and palate were included in this oral/dental evaluation. Factors such as stage of dentition; oral hygiene; carious, missing and restored teeth; and occlusion were recorded. RESULTS: Twenty-six of the 89 patients presented with a palatal fistula. Oral hygiene of patients without a palatal fistula was significantly better than that of patients with a fistula (p < .01). Forty-five percent of patients had eight or more decayed teeth. Significantly more patients with palatal fistulae had class II soft tissue facial profiles than those without palatal fistulae. Anterior crossbites were found in 48% of patients, unilateral posterior crossbites in 58%, and bilateral posterior crossbites in 12%. CONCLUSIONS: The high percentage of poor oral hygiene and dental caries found in this group of patients is likely due to the general unavailability of dental hygiene products and the high cost of these products when available. In addition, it seems there is limited understanding by parents of the importance of dental hygiene and appropriate diet in preventing dental disease.

Otologic and audiologic status of Russian children with cleft lip and palate.

OBJECTIVE: In this study, researchers evaluated the otologic and audiologic status of 112 children with repaired cleft lip and palate who had received primary palatal repair by means of Frolova palatoplasty, a surgical technique developed by Dr. Larisa Y. Frolova, founder and director of the National Pediatric Center for Congenital Maxillofacial Pathology, Moscow, Russia. DESIGN: Results of hearing thresholds and tympanograms for these Russian children were compared with data previously reported from a group of 48 children and adults with repaired cleft lip and palate at the University of Florida Craniofacial Center, Gainesville, Florida. RESULTS: There were no substantial differences in hearing thresholds between the two groups, which was surprising in view of the vast differences between middle ear management techniques used in Russia and the United States. CONCLUSIONS: Considering these findings and the growing body of literature favoring a more conservative approach to the management of middle ear effusion in infants with cleft lip and palate, a reexamination of otologic strategies in the United States seems advisable.

Stature of Russian children with isolated cleft lip and palate.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the stature of Russian children with cleft lip and palate (CLP). DESIGN: One hundred twelve Russian children predominantly with repaired unilateral CLP 4 through 10 years of age underwent studies including height measurement, physical examinations, and record review. Children with health concerns that could affect growth were excluded. U.S. growth data from the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) and Russian parental heights were used in the absence of Russian growth norms. RESULTS: Based on U.S. norms, the distribution curve for heights for the Russian children was largely confined to the +1 to -1 standard deviation (SD) range. Sixty-two percent of the Russian children had heights below the 50th percentile for American female and male children of the same age. The proportion of children found outside the +1 to -1 SD range approximated the proportion expected statistically for the general population, with 14.4% < -1 SD (16th percentile) and 12% > +1 SD (84th percentile). A total of 3.6% of the children ranked below the third percentile, which is close to the expected 3%. Russian parents' (n = 209) mean heights were 0.5 SD below NCHS's 50th percentile values for adults. CONCLUSION: These results indicate that there is no increased risk of true short stature in 4- to 10-year-old Russian children with repaired CLP.

[Congenital developmental defects of the face and jaws in children (the statistical data for Moscow for 1979-1993)]. / Vrozhdennye poroki razvitiia litsa i cheliustei u detei (statisticheskie dannye po Moskve za 1979--1993 gg.).

A stable increase in the rate of birth of children with congenital developmental defects in general and, specifically, with cleft lip and palate was observed in Moscow in 1979-1993. Regions of the city with stable high and low annual incidence of birth of children with maxillofacial clefts were distinguished.

[Wound infection in the surgical treatment of children with congenital cleft palate]. / Ranevaia infektsiia pri khirurgicheskom lechenii detei s vrozhdennoi rasshchelinoi neba.

Clinico-microbiologic examinations of 153 children with cleft palate aged 2 to 9 were carried out. Two groups of patients with different pattern of operative wound healing after uranoplasty were singled out: 110 ones with primary healing and 13 ones with infectious inflammations of the wound. The incidence of S. aureus carriership on the palatal mucosa before surgery was higher among patients who developed postoperative inflammations. On day 3 after the operation gram-negative bacilli were isolated from the majority of patients with postoperative wound inflammations coursing in the presence of marked dysbacteriosis as against patients in whom the wounds healed by primary intention. The authors suggest a method for wound infection prevention in uranoplasty, consisting in irrigation of the operative wound with acilact (a biopreparation) suspension and shortening of antibiotic prevention course to just 48-72 h; the efficacy of this method was confirmed by a reduction of the incidence of postoperative complications. Normal microflora representatives predominated in the microbiocenosis of the operative wound on days 3 and 10-12 after uranoplasty.