Clefts |
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Conditions and Treatments
A "cleft" is the medical term for a failure of the upper lip or palate (the roof of the mouth) to fuse together, which normally occurs between the 5th and 12th week of pregnancy. A cleft may be as minor as a notch in the upper lip or as extensive as a wide gap extending through the lip and gum into the nose and palate. Clefting can occur on one side of the lip, unilateral, or on both sides of the lip, bilateral. A cleft palate may occur in combination with a unilateral or bilateral cleft of the lip or may occur with a completely normal lip.
Clefts of the lip and palate are the most common congenital deformity affecting the face. The overall frequency of clefts is approximately one in every 600 births. Clefting is more common in children of Asian descent, occurring in approximately one in every 500 births, and least common in African-American children, occurring in approximately one in every 2,000 births.
No one knows exactly why clefts occur, although there may be a predisposition in some families. If one parent or child in a family has a cleft, the chances of a subsequent child being born with a cleft increases to approximately five percent. Because there are some circumstances in which the risk is even higher, it is important to meet with a geneticist to find out the approximate risk in any particular family. Parents also should understand that they have done nothing wrong during the pregnancy to cause the cleft. Parents with the most carefully monitored, trouble-free pregnancies give birth to children with clefts at the same rate as the rest of the population.
The Center for Craniofacial Anomalies at UCSF Medical Center treats patients with a wide variety of cleft conditions, including:
Reviewed by health care specialists at UCSF Children's Hospital.
Last updated May 8, 2007
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