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 ◽  
...  

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.

1998 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
pp. 35-39 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Kunkel ◽  
Ulrich Wahlmann ◽  
Wilfried Wagner

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.


2019 ◽  
Vol 57 (4) ◽  
pp. 458-469
Author(s):  
Inger Lundeborg Hammarström ◽  
Jill Nyberg ◽  
Suvi Alaluusua ◽  
Jorma Rautio ◽  
Erik Neovius ◽  
...  

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.


2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 79-83
Author(s):  
Павел Токарев ◽  
Pavel Tokarev ◽  
Алексей Шулаев ◽  
Aleksey Shulaev ◽  
Ринат Салеев ◽  
...  

Subject. The article describes the child's speech passport, as one of the important mechanisms of the rehabilitation and speech recovery in children with congenital cleft lip and palate. Purpose of the study ― evaluation of the treatment outcome in children with cleft palate with the use of a speech passport at the stage of rehabilitation. Materials and methods. The article presents the experience of the rehabilitation of more than 2,000 patients with congenital maxillofacial defects from 1998 to 2017. Results. The features of speech development were studied in 93 patients divided into two groups. The main group consisted of 56 people, in whom the definition of the algorithm of medical and logopedic aid was carried out using a speech passport, then the rehabilitation measures complex developed by us for restoring and correcting the speech function was applied. The control group included 37 people: patients who did not receive medical and speech therapy in the postoperative period, and patients who underwent rehabilitation measures in outpatient clinic at the place of residence. The speech activity indicators in patients of the compared groups had significant differences (p = 0,026), due to a more pronounced positive dynamics of speech activity recovery in the main group - the percentage of patients increased 3,6 times ― from 17,9 to 64,3 %, while in the control group the rate increased only 1,9 times ― from 21,6 up to 40,5 %. Conclusion. The developed speech passport involves a multidisciplinary approach to the child, early detection, treatment and rehabilitation. It is also can be defined as a link between health care, speech therapy and pedagogy. The child's speech passport data can be filled by a pediatrician, neurologist, maxillofacial surgeon, orthodontist, speech therapist and speech therapist defectologist at various stages of treatment and rehabilitation.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ravi K. Garg ◽  
Delora L Mount

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


2002 ◽  
Vol 39 (4) ◽  
pp. 409-424 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hans Dotevall ◽  
Anette Lohmander-Agerskov ◽  
Hasse Ejnell ◽  
Björn Bake

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.


2003 ◽  
Vol 27 (4) ◽  
pp. 311-320 ◽  
Author(s):  
Puneet Batra ◽  
Ritu Duggal ◽  
Hari Parkash

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.


2018 ◽  
Vol 55 (10) ◽  
pp. 1399-1408 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristina Klintö ◽  
Evelina Falk ◽  
Sara Wilhelmsson ◽  
Björn Schönmeyr ◽  
Magnus Becker

Objective: To evaluate speech in 5-year-olds with cleft palate with or without cleft lip (CP±L) treated with primary palatal surgery in 1 stage with muscle reconstruction according to Sommerlad at about 12 months of age. Design: Retrospective study. Setting: Primary care university hospital. Participants: Eight 5-year-olds with cleft soft palate (SP), 22 with cleft soft/hard palate (SHP), 33 with unilateral cleft lip and palate, and 17 with bilateral CLP (BCLP). Main Outcome Measures: Percent oral consonants correct (POCC), percent consonants correct adjusted for age (PCC-A), percent oral errors, percent nonoral errors, and variables related to velopharyngeal function were analyzed from assessments of audio recordings by 3 independent speech-language pathologists. Results: The median POCC was 75.4% (range: 22.7%-98.9%), median PCC-A 96.9% (range: 36.9%-100%), median percent oral errors 3.4% (range: 0%-40.7%), and median percent nonoral errors 0% (range: 0%-20%), with significantly poorer results in children with more extensive clefts. The SP group had significantly less occurrence of audible nasal air leakage than the SHP and the BCLP groups. Before age 5 years, 1.3% of the children underwent fistula surgery and 6.3% secondary speech improving surgery. At age 5 years, 15% of the total group was perceived as having incompetent velopharyngeal function. Conclusions: Speech was poorer in many children with more extensive clefts. Children with CP±L had poorer speech compared to normative data of peers without CP±L, but the results indicated relatively good speech compared to speech of children with CP±L in previous studies.


2001 ◽  
Vol 38 (4) ◽  
pp. 358-373 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hans Dotevall ◽  
Hasse Ejnell ◽  
Björn Bake

Objectives: (1) To study the nasal airflow patterns during the velopharyngeal closing phase in speech produced by children with and without cleft palate. (2) To compare the nasal airflow patterns in bilabial, dental, and velar articulation in these children. Design: Prospective, cross-sectional study of a consecutive series of children with cleft palate referred for routine speech evaluation and controls. Setting: Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Göteborg, Sweden. Participants: Seventeen children with cleft lip and palate or cleft palate only and 22 controls aged 7 and 10 years. Method: Nasal airflow was transduced with a pneumotachograph attached to a nose mask and registered together with the acoustic speech signal. Sentences containing nasal-to-stop combinations in bilabial, dental, and velar articulatory positions were used. Main Outcomes Measures: The duration from peak to 5% nasal airflow, the maximum flow declination rate, and the nasal airflow at selected points in time during the transition from nasal-to-stop consonants. Results: In the cleft palate group, duration from peak to 5% nasal airflow was clearly longer than among the controls (p < .0001). The declination of airflow was slower (p < .006) and the rate of nasal airflow at the release of the stop consonant was higher (p < .004) in the cleft palate group. Differences between bilabial versus dental and velar articulation were found in the control group. Conclusion: Studies of the temporal and dynamic characteristics of the nasal airflow variations during speech appear potentially useful for the assessment of velopharyngeal function.


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