Cervical Vertebral Anomalies in Cleft Lip and Palate

Abstract

A survey was made of the upper cervical vertebrae in children with cleft lip and palate in order to determine the prevalence of cervical ver-tebral anomalies. The cleft sample consisted of 105 patients attending for orthodontic treatment. It was subdivided into cleft lip (CL), cleft palate (CP), unilateral cleft lip and palate (UCLP) and bilateral cleft lip and palate (BCLP) subgroups. A control was comprised of 120 orthodontic patients. The cervical vertebral anomalies were classified into two types, posterior arch deficiency (PAD) and fusion anomalies (FUS). The results confirmed that the cervical vertebral anomalies occurred significantly more often in the cleft sample (13%) than in the controls (0.8%), p