Demographic characteristics of cases diagnosed with cleft palate

Aim: The aim of this study is to retrospectively evaluate the cleft palate cases in our neonatal clinic and to examine the associated clinical features, predisposing factors, accompanying anomalies, additional findings, treatment approaches and follow-up results.Material and Methods: The study included babies that were diagnosed with cleft palate in our Neonatal Intensive Care Unit between January 2014 and December 2018. The etiological risk factors, demographic characteristics, clinical features and concomitant malformations of the patients included in the study were retrospectively recorded from the patient files and the database system of our hospital.Results: A total of 70 cleft palate patients were observed over a five year period. Of these, 30 (42.9%) were female and 40 (57.1%) were male. The mean gestational age was 38 ± 2.9 weeks and the mean birth weight was 2845 ± 700 grams. 77.1% of the patients were found to additionally have cleft lips. 27 patients (38.5%) had cardiac defects, 18 (25.7%) had central nervous system anomalies and 4 (5.7%) had hypothyroidism. 24 (34.3%) of the parents were consanguineous. The median age at the time of the initial operation was 13 months for cleft palate cases and 5 months for cleft lip cases.Conclusion: As a result, treatment and follow-up of patients with cleft palate defect requires a multidisciplinary approach. These patients should undergo a thorough examination and evaluation. Since many syndromes or malformations may accompany the palate defects, these cases should be investigated with respect to genetic disease and other system anomalies.