Comparison of craniofacial morphology in patients with bilateral complete cleft of primary versus secondary palate

Objective: To identify and compare the craniofacial morphology of patients with bilateral complete cleft of primary palate (BCCPP) and bilateral complete cleft of secondary palate (BCCSP). In addition, to evaluate the differential effects of lip repair and palatal repair on the craniofacial morphology in cleft patients. Subjects: Twenty-four children, 10 boys and 14 girls, mean age of 5.8 years, with BCCPP (BCCPP group). Twenty-five children, 10 boys and 15 girls, mean age of 5.6 years, with BCCSP (BCCSP group). Design: Retrospective analysis. Main Outcome Measures: Cephalometric analysis was used to determine the craniofacial morphology at about 5 years of age. Results: Compared with the BCCSP group, the BCCPP group demonstrated longer maxillary length, more protruded maxilla, more favorable jaw relation, more severely retroclined maxillary incisors, and larger overjet. Conclusions: The subjects with BCCPP had craniofacial characteristics that differed significantly from those with BCCSP. It could also be speculated that palatal repair had more adverse effect on the growth of the maxilla in length; however, that repair influenced less the anteroposterior position of maxillary incisors than lip repair did.