The Influence of Sidedness in Unilateral Cleft Lip and Palate on Mid Facial Growth at Five Years of Age

Matthew Fell; David Chong; Paras Parmar; Ting-Li Su; Lars Enocson; Bruce Richard

doi:10.1177/10556656241233220

The Influence of Sidedness in Unilateral Cleft Lip and Palate on Mid Facial Growth at Five Years of Age

Cleft Palate Craniofac J. 2024 Feb 12:10556656241233220. doi: 10.1177/10556656241233220. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Matthew Fell^{1

2}, David Chong³, Paras Parmar⁴, Ting-Li Su⁵, Lars Enocson⁶, Bruce Richard⁶

Affiliations

¹ Spires Cleft Centre, Oxford, UK.
² The Cleft Collective, Bristol Dental School, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK.
³ The Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne, Australia.
⁴ Worcestershire Royal Hospital, Worcester, UK.
⁵ Lancashire Clinical Trial Unit, University of Central Lancashire, School of Medical Sciences, University of Manchester, Preston, UK.
⁶ Birmingham Women and Children's Hospital, Birmingham, UK.

PMID: 38347701
DOI: 10.1177/10556656241233220

Abstract

Objective: To determine whether facial growth at five years is different for children with a left versus right sided cleft lip and palate.

Design: Retrospective cohort study.

Setting: Seven UK regional cleft centres.

Patients: Patients born between 2000-2014 with a complete unilateral cleft lip and palate (UCLP).

Main outcomes measure: 5-Year-Old's Index scores.

Results: 378 children were included. 256 (68%) had a left sided UCLP and 122 (32%) had a right sided UCLP. 5-Year-Old's index scores ranged from 1 (good) to 5 (poor). There was a higher proportion of patients getting good scores (1 and 2) in left UCLP (43%) compared to right UCLP (37%) but there was weak evidence for a difference (Adjusted summary odds ratio 1.27, 95% CI 0.87 to 1.87; P = .22).

Conclusions: Whilst maxillary growth may be different for left versus right sided UCLP, definitive analysis requires older growth indices and arch forms.

Keywords: cleft lip and palate; facial growth; midfacial growth.