CORRECTION OF VELOPHARYNGEAL INSUFFICIENCY WITH FURLOW PALATOPLASTY

Objective: To evaluate the authors' experience with Furlow palatoplast y for velopharyngeal insufficiency. Design: Review of 8 cases over a 3 -year period. Setting: Regional private practice hospital affiliated w ith a teaching university. Patients: Eight patients aged 4 to 14 years with symptoms and signs of velopharyngeal insufficiency underwent Fur low palatoplasty. Four patients had submucous or soft palate clefts wi thout previous intervention. Four patients had undergone previous surg ery for cleft palate. Intervention: All patients underwent Furlow pala toplasty. Main Outcome Measures: Fiberoptic nasopharyngeal examination and speech analysis. Results: Seven of 8 patients exhibited good pala te closure and marked improvement in speech. One patient exhibited goo d closure but had mild nasal emission and hypernasality, which respond ed to speech therapy after surgery. Conclusion: Furlow palatoplasty is a useful technique for the correction of velopharyngeal insufficiency in selected patients.