Children with cleft lip and palate. Capita selecta

PhD ceremony: Mr. P. van der Heijden, 12.45 uur, Academiegebouw, Broerstraat 5, Groningen

Dissertaion: Children with cleft lip and palate. Capita selecta

Promotor(s): prof. S.M. Goorhuis-Brouwer, prof. B.F.A.M. van der Laan

Faculty: Medical Sciences

This thesis describes several investigations of the care for patients with a cleft lip and palate. A cleft is worldwide the most common craniofacial malformation. Many treatments are needed over a long period to achieve the best possible function and appearance. Treatments are performed by a cleft team, which minimally includes a plastic surgeon, pediatrician, ENT-surgeon, dentist, speech therapist, maxillofacial surgeon and psychologist. Each cleft team has its own treatment protocol which may differ from other protocols in the country and over the world. For example, the treatment modalities for nasal deviation are applied in different ways during the neonatal and adolescent periods. The effects of a relatively novel treatment for a deviated nose of the newborn (nasoalveolar molding) and growth patterns of the adolescent face were investigated. Also, the applicability of the nasometer, an instrument for diagnosing a particular speech pathology (velopharyngeal insufficiency), was evaluated in young Dutch children. Furthermore, normative values for using the nasometer in Dutch children aged 4 to 6 years are proposed. The investigation of the treatment wishes and motivations of patients with a cleft revealed their basic desire to be as normal as possible.