scholarly journals Scandcleft Project Trial 2—Comparison of Speech Outcome in 1- and 2-Stage Palatal Closure in 5-Year-Olds With UCLP

2019 ◽  
Vol 57 (4) ◽  
pp. 458-469
Author(s):  
Inger Lundeborg Hammarström ◽  
Jill Nyberg ◽  
Suvi Alaluusua ◽  
Jorma Rautio ◽  
Erik Neovius ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cleft Palate ◽  
Hard Palate ◽  
Cleft Lip ◽  
Speech Therapy ◽  
Cleft Lip And Palate ◽  
Burden Of Treatment ◽  
Hearing Thresholds ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Age Appropriate ◽  
Velopharyngeal Function

Objective: To investigate in-depth speech results in the Scandcleft Trial 2 with comparisons between surgical protocols and centers and with benchmarks from peers without cleft palate. Design: A prospective randomized clinical trial. Setting: Two Swedish and one Finnish Cleft Palate center. Participants: One hundred twelve participants were 5-years-old born with unilateral cleft lip and palate randomized to either lip repair and soft palate closure at 4 months and hard palate closure at 12 months or lip repair at 3 to 4 months (Arm A), or a closure of both the soft and hard palate at 12 months (Arm C). Main Outcome Measures: A composite measure dichotomized into velopharyngeal competency (VPC) or velopharyngeal incompetency (VPI), overall assessment of velopharyngeal function (VPC-Rate), percentage of consonants correct (PCC score), and consonant errors. In addition, number of speech therapy visits, average hearing thresholds, and secondary surgeries were documented to assess burden of treatment. Results: Across the trial, 53.5% demonstrated VPC and 46.5% VPI with no significant differences between arms or centers. In total, 27% reached age-appropriate PCC scores with no statistically significant difference between the arms. The Finnish center had significantly higher PCC scores, the Swedish centers had higher percentages of oral consonant errors. Number of speech therapy visits was significantly higher in the Finnish center. Conclusion: At age 5, poor speech outcomes with some differences between participating centers were seen but could not be attributed to surgical protocol. As one center had very few participants, the results from that center should be interpreted with caution.

Scandcleft Project, Trial 1: Comparison of Speech Outcome in Relation to Timing of Hard Palate Closure in 5-Year-Olds With UCLP

2019 ◽  
Vol 56 (10) ◽  
pp. 1276-1286 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elisabeth Willadsen ◽  
Anette Lohmander ◽  
Christina Persson ◽  
Maria Boers ◽  
Mia Kisling-Møller ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Hard Palate ◽  
Cleft Lip ◽  
Speech Therapy ◽  
Cleft Lip And Palate ◽  
Reference Data ◽  
Burden Of Treatment ◽  
Speech Characteristics ◽  
Velopharyngeal Incompetence ◽  
Hearing Thresholds ◽  
Age Appropriate

Objective: To compare in-depth speech results in Scandcleft Trial 1 as well as reference data from peers without cleft palate (CP). Design: A prospective randomized clinical trial. Setting: A Danish and a Swedish CP center. Participants: 143 of 148 randomized 5-year-olds with unilateral cleft lip and palate. All received lip and velum closure at 4 months, and hard palate closure at 12 months (arm A) or 36 months (arm B). Main Outcome Measures: A composite measure based on velopharyngeal competence (VPC) or velopharyngeal incompetence (VPI), an overall assessment of VPC from connected speech (VPC-Rate), Percentage of Consonants Correct (PCC-score), and consonant errors. Speech therapy visits, average hearing thresholds, and secondary pharyngeal surgeries documented burden of treatment. Results: Across the trial, 61.5% demonstrated VPC and 38.5% VPI. Twenty-two percent of participants achieved age appropriate PCC-scores. There were no statistically significant differences between arms or centers for these measures. In the Danish center, arm B: achieved lower PCC-scores ( P = .01); obtained PCC-scores without s-errors below 79% ( P = .002); produced ≥3 active oral cleft speech characteristics ( P = .004) than arm A. In both centers, arm B attended more speech visits. Conclusions: At age 5, differences between centers and treatment arms were not statistically significant for VPC/VPI, but consonant proficiency differed between treatment arms in the Danish center. Poor speech outcomes were seen for both treatment arms. Variations between centers were observed. As the Swedish center had few participants, intercenter comparisons should be interpreted with caution.

Perceptual Speech Outcomes After Early Primary Palatal Repair in Ugandan Patients With Cleft Palate

2020 ◽  
pp. 105566562098024
Author(s):  
Kim Bettens ◽  
Laura Bruneel ◽  
Cassandra Alighieri ◽  
Daniel Sseremba ◽  
Duncan Musasizib ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cleft Palate ◽  
Cleft Lip ◽  
Speech Therapy ◽  
Cleft Lip And Palate ◽  
Control Group ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Early Primary ◽  
Velopharyngeal Function ◽  
Normal Speech

Objective: To provide speech outcomes of English-speaking Ugandan patients with a cleft palate with or without cleft lip (CP±L). Design: Prospective case–control study. Setting: Referral hospital for patients with cleft lip and palate in Uganda. Participants: Twenty-four English-speaking Ugandan children with a CP±L (15 boys, 9 girls, mean 8.4 years) who received palatal closure prior to 6 months of age and an age- and gender-matched control group of Ugandan children without cleft palate. Interventions: Comparison of speech outcomes of the patient and control group. Main Outcome Measures: Perceptual speech outcomes including articulation, resonance, speech understandability and acceptability, and velopharyngeal composite score (VPC-sum). Information regarding speech therapy, fistula rate, and secondary surgery. Results: Normal speech understandability was observed in 42% of the patients, and 38% were judged with normal speech acceptability. Only 16% showed compensatory articulation. Acceptable resonance was found in 71%, and 75% of the patients were judged perceptually to present with competent velopharyngeal function based on the VPC-sum. Additional speech intervention was recommended in 25% of the patients. Statistically significant differences for all these variables were still observed with the control children ( P < .05). Conclusions: Overall, acceptable speech outcomes were found after early primary palatal closure. Comparable or even better results were found in comparison with international benchmarks, especially regarding the presence of compensatory articulation. Whether this approach is transferable to Western countries is the subject for further research.

Visual Training and Correction of Articulation Disorders by Use of Dynamic Palatography

1986 ◽  
Vol 51 (3) ◽  
pp. 226-238 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ken-Ichi Michi ◽  
Noriko Suzuki ◽  
Yukari Yamashita ◽  
Satoko Imai
Keyword(s):  
Cleft Palate ◽  
Hard Palate ◽  
Cleft Lip ◽  
Speech Therapy ◽  
Cleft Lip And Palate ◽  
Treatment Plan ◽  
Visual Display ◽  
Palatal Plate ◽  
Articulation Disorders ◽  
Visual Indication

The dynamic palatograph is an electrical apparatus that generates a visual display of constantly changing palatolingual contact as a function of time, using an artificial palatal plate with affixed electrodes. This paper describes a technique of speech therapy incorporating dynamic palatography for a cleft palate patient. The patient, a 6-year-old Japanese girl with a repaired unilateral cleft lip and palate, had been judged to demonstrate articulation disorders involving contact of the tongue with the hard palate or alveolus following surgical improvement of velopharyngeal function. Prior to therapy the tongue tended to contact the hard palate more posteriorly than normal. After therapy with the dynamic palatograph, palatolingual contact was normal in comparison with average speakers. Our findings suggest that the facility of constant visual indication of tongue posture to the clinician and patient during corrective speech therapy using dynamic palatography may expedite results with cleft palate patients in the speech clinic when implemented in a carefully structured treatment plan.

Scandcleft Project Trial 3: Comparison of Speech Outcomes in Relation to Sequence in 2-Stage Palatal Repair Procedures in 5-Year-Olds With Unilateral Cleft Lip and Palate

2020 ◽  
Vol 57 (3) ◽  
pp. 352-363 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christina Persson ◽  
Nina-Helen Pedersen ◽  
Christine Hayden ◽  
Melanie Bowden ◽  
Ragnhild Aukner ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Soft Palate ◽  
Hard Palate ◽  
Cleft Lip ◽  
Cleft Lip And Palate ◽  
Composite Measure ◽  
Connected Speech ◽  
Prospective Randomized Clinical Trial ◽  
Speech Characteristics ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Age Appropriate

Objective: To compare speech outcome following different sequencing of hard and soft palate closure between arms and centers within trial 3 and compare results to peers without cleft palate. Design: A prospective randomized clinical trial. Setting: Two Norwegian and 2 British centers. Participants: One hundred thirty-six 5-year-olds with unilateral cleft lip and palate were randomized to either lip and soft palate closure at 3 to 4 months and hard palate closure at 12 months (arm A) or lip and hard palate closure at 3 to 4 months and soft palate closure at 12 months (arm D). Main Outcome Measures: A composite measure of velopharyngeal competence (VPC), overall assessment of VPC from connected speech (VPC-Rate). Percentage of consonants correct (PCC), active cleft speech characteristics (CSCs), subdivided by oral retracted and nonoral errors, and developmental speech characteristics (DSCs). Results: Across the trial, 47% had VPC, with no statistically significant difference between arms within or across centers. Thirty-eight percent achieved a PCC score of >90%, with no difference between arms or centers. In one center, significantly more children in arm A produced ≥3 active CSCs ( P < .05). Across centers, there was a statistically significant difference in active CSCs (arm D), oral retracted CSCs (arm D), and DSCs (arms A and D). Conclusions: Less than half of the 5-year-olds achieved VPC and around one-third achieved age-appropriate PCC scores. Cleft speech characteristics were more common in arm A, but outcomes varied within and across centers. Thus, outcome of the same surgical method can vary substantially across centers.

Management of Speech and Swallowing Disorders in Children with Oral Clefts

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ravi K. Garg ◽  
Delora L Mount
Keyword(s):  
Cleft Palate ◽  
Cleft Lip ◽  
Speech Therapy ◽  
Cleft Lip And Palate ◽  
Treatment Options ◽  
Posterior Pharyngeal Wall ◽  
Diagnostic Tools ◽  
Pharyngeal Wall ◽  
Pharyngeal Flap ◽  
Sphincter Pharyngoplasty

Cleft lip and palate are common congenital anomalies with significant implications for feeding, swallowing, and speech. If a cleft palate goes unrepaired, a child will have difficulty distinguishing nasal and oral sounds. Even following cleft palate repair, approximately 20 to 30% of nonsyndromic children have persistent hypernasal speech. This often occurs due to velopharyngeal dysfunction (VPD), a term describing failure of the soft palate and pharyngeal walls to seal the nasopharynx from the oropharynx during oral consonant production. The gold standard for diagnosis is perceptual examination by a trained speech pathologist, although additional diagnostic tools such as nasendoscopy are often used. Treatment options for VPD range from speech therapy to revision palatoplasty, sphincter pharyngoplasty, pharyngeal flap, and pharyngeal wall augmentation. Palatal prosthetics may also be considered for children who are not surgical candidates. Further research is needed to improve selection of diagnostic and treatment interventions and optimize speech outcomes for children with a history of oral cleft. This review contains 1 figure, 3 videos, and 58 references.  Key words: Cleft lip and palate, hypernasal resonance, levator veli palatine, nasal emission, nasendoscopy, palatoplasty, pharyngeal flap, posterior pharyngeal wall augmentation, sphincter pharyngoplasty, velopharyngeal dysfunction

Perceptual Evaluation of Speech and Velopharyngeal Function in Children with and without Cleft Palate and the Relationship to Nasal Airflow Patterns

2002 ◽  
Vol 39 (4) ◽  
pp. 409-424 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hans Dotevall ◽  
Anette Lohmander-Agerskov ◽  
Hasse Ejnell ◽  
Björn Bake
Keyword(s):  
Cleft Palate ◽  
Sensitivity And Specificity ◽  
Cleft Lip ◽  
Cleft Lip And Palate ◽  
Strong Association ◽  
Airflow Rate ◽  
Nasal Airflow ◽  
Perceptual Evaluation ◽  
Velopharyngeal Function ◽  
The Relationship

Objectives The aim was to study the relationship between perceptual evaluation of speech variables related to velopharyngeal function and the pattern of nasal airflow during the velopharyngeal closing phase in speech in children with and without cleft palate. Participants Fourteen children with cleft lip and palate or cleft palate only and 15 controls aged 7 and 10 years. All were native Swedish speakers. Method Three experienced listeners performed a blinded perceptual speech evaluation. Nasal airflow was transduced with a pneumotachograph attached to a nasal mask. The duration from peak to 5% nasal airflow, maximum flow declination rate, and nasal airflow at selected points in time during the transition from nasal to stop consonants in bilabial and velar articulatory positions in sentences were estimated. The analysis was focused on the perceptual ratings of “velopharyngeal function” and “hypernasality.” Results A strong association was found between ratings of “velopharyngeal function” and “hypernasality” and the pattern of nasal airflow during the bilabial nasal-to-stop combination /mp/. Both the sensitivity and specificity were 1.00 for the bilabial temporal airflow measure in relation to ratings of “velopharyngeal function.” The nasal airflow rate during /p/ in /mp/ had a sensitivity of 1.00 and specificity of 0.92 to 0.96 in relation to ratings of “hypernasality.” Conclusion Assessment of the nasal airflow dynamics during the velopharyngeal closing phase in speech presents quantitative, objective data that appear to distinguish between perceptually normal and deviant velopharyngeal function with high sensitivity and specificity.

Influence of Infant Cleft Dimensions on Velopharyngeal Function in 5-Year-Old Danish Children Born With Unilateral Cleft Lip and Palate

2019 ◽  
Vol 57 (4) ◽  
pp. 420-429
Author(s):  
Susanna Botticelli ◽  
Annelise Küseler ◽  
Kirsten Mølsted ◽  
Helene Soegaard Andersen ◽  
Maria Boers ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Soft Palate ◽  
Hard Palate ◽  
Cleft Lip ◽  
Cleft Lip And Palate ◽  
Controlled Trial ◽  
Velopharyngeal Insufficiency ◽  
Primary Surgery ◽  
Multicenter Randomized Controlled Trial ◽  
Palate Repair ◽  
Velopharyngeal Function

Aim: To examine the association of cleft severity at infancy and velopharyngeal competence in preschool children with unilateral cleft lip and palate operated with early or delayed hard palate repair. Design: Subgroup analysis within a multicenter randomized controlled trial of primary surgery (Scandcleft). Setting: Tertiary health care. One surgical center. Patients and Methods: One hundred twenty-five infants received cheilo-rhinoplasty and soft palate repair at age 3 to 4 months and were randomized to hard palate closure at age 12 or 36 months. Cleft size and cleft morphology were measured 3 dimensionally on digital models, obtained by laser surface scanning of preoperative plaster models (mean age: 1.8 months). Main outcome measurements: Velopharyngeal competence (VPC) and hypernasality assessed from a naming test (VPC-Sum) and connected speech (VPC-Rate). In both scales, higher scores indicated a more severe velopharyngeal insufficiency. Results: No difference between surgical groups was shown. A low positive correlation was found between posterior cleft width and VPC-Rate (Spearman = .23; P = .025). The role of the covariate “cleft size at tuberosity level” was confirmed in an ordinal logistic regression model (odds ratio [OR] = 1.17; 95% confidence interval [CI]:1.01-1.35). A low negative correlation was shown between anteroposterior palatal length and VPC-Sum (Spearman = −.27; P = .004) and confirmed by the pooled scores VPC-Pooled (OR = 0.82; 95% CI: 0.69-0.98) and VPC-Dichotomic (OR = 0.82; 95% CI: 0.68-0.99). Conclusions: Posterior cleft dimensions can be a modest indicator for the prognosis of velopharyngeal function at age 5 years, when the soft palate is closed first, independently on the timing of hard palate repair. Antero-posterior palatal length seems to protect from velopharyngeal insufficiency and hypernasality. However, the association found was significant but low.

Objective, Noninvasive Evaluation of Velopharyngeal Function in Cleft and Noncleft Patients

1998 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
pp. 35-39 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Kunkel ◽  
Ulrich Wahlmann ◽  
Wilfried Wagner
Keyword(s):  
Cleft Palate ◽  
Cleft Lip ◽  
Cleft Lip And Palate ◽  
Noninvasive Evaluation ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Pharyngeal Muscles ◽  
Pharyngeal Flap ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Acoustic Pharyngometry ◽  
Velopharyngeal Function

Objective The purpose of this study was to investigate a new diagnostic method that provides an approach to noninvasive, objective measurement of velopharyngeal movement by acoustic determination of epipharyngeal volume changes with velopharyngeal muscle function. Design This was a case control study, using consecutive samples. Setting This study took place at the Cleft Palate Rehabilitation Center of the University of Mainz, Germany. Patients Subjects were 29 consecutive cleft lip and palate (CLP) patients and 31 controls (21 patients with dysgnathia and 10 healthy volunteers). Intervention A series of transnasal acoustic measurements (pressure wave: 55 dB for 2 milliseconds) of epipharyngeal volume were performed with the pharyngeal muscles relaxed in end-expiration and while the velopharyngeal orifice was closed, with the difference in volume representing maximal pharyngeal movement. Results Cleft palate patients yielded significantly lower values of velopharyngeal movement (6.5 cm3) than did the control group (8.0 cm3)(p < .05; Mann-Whitney U test). Overlapping ranges of values were measured for the C(L)P and control groups. The least mobility (4.75 cm3) was measured in patients who had undergone pharyngeal flap surgery. Different patterns of restriction were observed in patients with and without a pharyngeal flap. Conclusion Acoustic pharyngometry may provide access to noninvasive quantitative measurement of velopharyngeal movement and a better understanding of the pattern of movement in C(L)P-patients. We expect it to be a helpful tool in objectively monitoring the progress of logopedic therapy.

Genetics of cleft lip and palate revisited

2003 ◽  
Vol 27 (4) ◽  
pp. 311-320 ◽  
Author(s):  
Puneet Batra ◽  
Ritu Duggal ◽  
Hari Parkash
Keyword(s):  
Cleft Palate ◽  
Cleft Lip ◽  
Speech Therapy ◽  
Cleft Lip And Palate ◽  
Gene List ◽  
Complex Trait ◽  
Case Control Studies ◽  
Systematic Screening ◽  
Complex Interactions ◽  
Facial Development

Cleft lip with or without cleft palate (CL/CP) is one of the most common structural birth defects, with treatment including multiple surgeries, speech therapy, and dental and orthodontic treatments over the first 18 years of life. Providing care for these patients and families includes educating patients and parents about the genetics of CL/CP, as well as meeting the immediate medical needs.Attempts at identifying susceptibility loci via family and case-control studies have proved inconsistent. It is likely that initial predictions of the complex interactions involved in facial development were underestimated. The candidate gene list for CL/P is getting longer and the need for an impartial, systematic screening technique, to implicate or refute the inclusion of particular loci, is apparent. So we are faced with the question "Can this complex trait be too complex?"The aim of this review is to make the dentist aware of the differences between syndromic and non-syndromic cleft as well as understanding the etiological variation in cleft lip with and without cleft palate. This will aid the dentist in diagnosis and give proper genetic counseling to parents and patients of cleft lip and palate.

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