CLEFT-PALATE CLOSURE IN THE NEONATE - PRELIMINARY-REPORT

Our recent experience with cleft palate closure in the neonatal period (within 28 days of birth) is reviewed in this study. The research inv olved a series of 21 neonates who presented with untreated cleft palat es and underwent a modified Veau-Wardill-Kilner palate closure by a si ngle surgeon between 1991 and 1994. The postoperative clinical follow- up ranged from 8 to 37 months (mean 18 months). All complications disc ussed do not seem to occur more frequently when surgery is done at thi s age than at an older age. Our findings demonstrate that cleft palate closure can be safely performed in the neonatal period; we do not, ho wever, recommend that the standard approach should be changed based on this preliminary report.