A case of congenital unilateral soft palate aplasia

We report a rare case of a congenital anomaly with unilateral soft palate aplasia. A 10-monthold girl presented with nasal discharge. We recognized a right velar defect. No other abnormalities were noted. In her family, there was no history of cleft lip, cleft palate, or other congenital abnormalities. We examined velopharyngeal closure function by means of cineradiography. The soft palate on the normal side moved upward on swallowing, although nasal escape was recognized.She was operated on with modified push-back procedures at 2 years of age. On operation, the right side of the levator veli palatini and the palatoglossus muscle were absent, while the tensor veli palatini and palatopharyngeus muscle were present. The right side of the palatine tonsils was also absent.After operation, nasal discharge and nasal speech resolved.