Cleft-Li+Palate

Cleft - Li/Palete

Kashea

Shealyn

1. What is the name of the defect?

Cleft lip and palate is a birth defect where the tissue of the lip of a fetus between the fourth and eighth weeks of pregnancy is not fused together. Cleft lip is when there is an opening in the roof of the mouth, and cleft lip is when there is an opening in the upper that can extend out to the nostrils.

2. What are the symptoms? Describe in detail. Some signs or symptoms of this birth defect, the baby might have, are an opening in the upper lip, which can extend up to the nostrils or below it. Babies born with cleft lip have an opening at the roof of their mouth, and the size of the cleft may vary.

3. What population does the defect most commonly affect? This defect is usually affected on babies; nearly 5,000 infants are born with this birth defect in the United States. In the United States, this birth defect seems to be at least in part related to ethnicity, it is common in Latinos, Asians, and Native Americans. And it is more likely to occur twice as often in males than in females.

4. What is the causes of the defect? Although it’s not really clear on what causes this deformity, scientist believe that this deformity is definitely has something to do with genetic components and environmental depending on their mother or fathers family history or if the mother uses substance abuse. A: If it is a inherited trait, parents with a family history of cleft lip or cleft palate, has a higher risk of having a baby with cleft. Cleft lip is also more common to be inherited than cleft palate, it also occur more in American Indians, Asians, or Hispanic, black children are less least ot have cleft. B: A mother who abuses drugs and alcohol, lack vitamins (folic acid) during the first week of pregnancy, are more likely to have a child with facial cleft. C: It can be a combination such as, If you are a mother who uses substance abuse and smoke and have diabetes, also who has a family background with cleft in the family, the more likely that child would have that birth defect.

5. When is the defect mostly commonly diagnosed? Cleft lip and palate ican be mostly mostly diagnosed before birth by the ultrasound. After birth it can be diagnosed by a physical exam.

6. How is the defect most commonly diagnosed? Cleft lip and palate are most commonly diagnosed visually. Cleft lip and/or palate can be seen very easily and do not require any testing, other than a physical exam, for a diagnosis. In rare cases, cleft palate is covered by the normal lining of the mouth. Because of this, it may only be recognized by the doctor performing the physical exam.

7. H ow is the defect treated and who treats it? This defect is treated by a cleft team. This consists of several different people, including: specialists on cleft lip and palate, surgeons, nurses, and speech therapists. The specialists on a cleft team mainly focus on taking care of patients with clefts, since they are usually young children. The team meets and, most commonly, discusses feeding methods since babies born with cleft palate often have trouble feeding because a cleft palate doesn’t allow the child to suckle due to the malformation of the mouth it causes. Children with cleft lip have trouble eating because they cannot form a tight enough seal to feed. The disease is combated with orthodontic treatments. Acrylic splints are applied for cleft palate and adhesive tape is placed over the gap a cleft lip causes. The tape forces the lip halves together and as time continues, they will begin to grow together. These treatments are followed by corrective surgery. With today’s medical treatments, both cleft lip and palate are curable when treatment is started at one to three months after birth.

8. Is there any way to prevent the defect? If so, what precautions are needed? Presently, there is very little understood about how to prevent these clefts. Researchers uncovered that women who plan to become pregnant and take vitamins with folic acid in them a month before becoming pregnant, drastically reduce the risk of having a child with cleft lip or palate. Additional research suggests that some babies with certain genes predispose them to this defect, especially if their mothers smoke. Some medications, (such as those used to treat epilepsy) may also greatly increase the risk of a cleft.

9. Find a case study, a person's story about having this defect. Describe the lifestyle changes and adjustments caused by this birth defect. What is life like with this birth defect for the child and family? Eric was born on May 22nd, 1998 with a unilateral cleft lip and palate. This means that his cleft was centered on only one side of his lip, the same goes for the cleft of his palate. His defect wasn’t diagnosed by ultrasound during pregnancy, which was unusual. As soon as he was born, doctors called in social workers and many different types of specialists. Eric’s parents were unprepared and therefore even more uneasy than a parent of a child with a cleft lip or palate would normally be. By the time Eric was just 10 months old, he had already undergone 3 surgeries to correct his clefts. The first surgery, done at 3 months, was done to close his lip. 2 months later, he had more surgery to correct his soft palate and finish his lip. When he was 10 months old, Eric had his first surgery attempting to fix his palate. This try, and 2 others, would prove to be unsuccessful. Now, Eric is 13 and after years of surgeries, he no longer has to work with his cleft team. He has just one more surgery to undergo- rhinoplasty to totally reconstruct his nose and nasal cavities. Although he has had a life full of medical procedures- a total of 18 surgeries- Eric has proved doctors wrong by doing something they said could never be achieved. He has learned to successfully play the clarinet. In addition to this tremendous goal Eric has reached, he also performed a vocal solo in his 2011 school concert.

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10. What kind of support is available to families of a child born with this defect? Operation Smile is a world renowned organization dedicated to aiding children with cleft lip or palate who are in need. It is made up of doctors who volunteer to provide surgery to children whose parents cannot afford their treatments. The cost surgeries provided by this organization range from free to about $240. Another place families and children can find support, is much smaller and closer to home. They don’t have to look any further than their cleft team. The clinical physiologist, who is a member of the cleft team, is placed on the team specifically to provide support for children and parents of children with clefts. Cleft and social stigma often goes hand in hand. This is due to the life-long scar that is left on the lip as a result of the cleft. Children often ask uncomfortable questions and tease because of this. Thankfully, the cleft team will stand by the child and the physiologist will support both the child and family.

11. At least one additional piece of information about the birth defect that had an impact on you. Some additional information about this disease that has impacted me is something called fistulas, which are involved in cleft palates. This is when two organs or vessels that do normally not connect, connect. If several attempts at surgery to correct this are unsuccessful, a tongue flap may have to be used to correct this. A tongue flap requires that tongue to be sewn to the roof of the mouth for 3 weeks. After the 3 weeks, the tongue and the roof of the mouth are surgically separated, leaving the tissue where the tongue and palate had begun to grow together in place. This impacted me the most because at a glance, cleft lip and palate do not seem incredibly serious since they may be treated and cured with minimally invasive surgery. After learning about this procedure though, I learned that even if clefts are not life threatening, they are extremely painful, uncomfortable, and require many extensive surgeries. Another addtional piece of information is that 10% of the fetus with cleft lip and palate dies before their first birthday. So babies with this birth defect have a slim chance, maybe because of lack of feeding, because it is very difficult to feed a child with cleft lip or palate. But there is a pretty good chance a child with this defect will live and maybe get treated for this birth defect.

Gulli, Farris F., and Monique Laberge. "Cleft lip and palate." //The Gale Encyclopedia of Genetic Disorders//. Ed. Stacey L. Blachford. Detroit: Gale, 2010. //Gale Science In Context//. Web. 18 May 2012.