Hearing Outcomes in Patients With Cleft Lip/Palate

Objective: Children with cleft lip and palate or cleft palate only have a high incidence of conductive hearing loss from otitis media with effusion. Studies demonstrating longitudinal results are lacking. This study was undertaken to investigate long-term longitudinal hearing outcomes of children with cleft lip and/or cleft palate and cleft palate only. Design: Retrospective chart review. Setting: Clinical charts of patients born with cleft lip and palate or cleft palate only in 1985 to 1994 who were referred to the cleft team in Bergen, Norway. Study findings include 15 years of follow-up. Participants: The study population consisted of 317 children of whom 159 had nonsyndromic cleft lip and palate and 158 had nonsyndromic cleft palate. Main Outcome Measures: Pure tone average calculated from pure tone audiometry at ages 4, 6, and 15 years. Results: The median pure tone average significantly improved with increasing age. For the cleft lip and palate group, the median pure tone average at ages 4, 6, and 1...