MULTIDISCIPLINARY TREATMENT RESULTS FOR PATIENTS WITH ISOLATED CLEFT-PALATE

Fifty-eight patients with cleft palate only who had received treatment in the Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery at the Univ ersity of Iowa were examined for treatment results. Forty-one (70.7 pe rcent) of the 58 patients showed a syndrome or suggestive factors. An unusually high percentage (36 percent) of the 58 patients required sec ondary surgery for velopharyngeal dysfunction or showed indications fo r surgery at examination. Some but not all of the relatively low succe ss rate appears related to surgical experience. Speech proficiency, he aring acuity, and dental status were within normal limits or nearly so . The 20 patients with pharyngeal flap surgery were doing well, with m inimal indications of functional obstruction.