New Search. Examines and treats patients independently and in autonomous collaboration with other health care professionals. Ensures proper illness and injury care and disease prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and recovery.
Cleft lip and palate is due to tissues of the face not properly joining together during development. They are a type of birth defect. The cause in most cases is unknown. Risk factors include smoking during pregnancy, diabetes, an older mother, obesity, and certain medications such as some used to treat seizures.
Three of our patients died; Two from respiratory failure (at the age of 3 and 6 months) and the third one from aspiration pneumonia secondary to a cleft palate (at the age of 11 months). Therefore, 16 patients (6 males and 10 females) were reviewed in this study. Their age ranged from 6 to 63 months (mean 31 months).