PREDICTION OF EARLY PALATAL GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT IN CHILDREN WITH CLEFT-LIP AND PALATE

With the use of multilevel modeling of longitudinal data, the relation ship between the developmental status of the palate at 4 years of age and early palatal growth and development from birth to 1.5 years of ag e was studied. A model to predict palatal depths and widths at 4 years of age was developed and tested,The sample consisted of 130 children with cleft lip and/or palate. They were divided into three groups acco rding to surgical treatment; (1) no palatal surgery, (2) soft palatal surgery, and (3) soft and hard palatal surgery. Results showed that in groups 1 and 2, the total arch depth at 4 years of age is strongly re lated to the initial arch depth at birth. No or low correlations were found between palatal depth at 4 years of age and the growth velocity at birth. The anterior arch width in groups 2 and 3 at 4 years of age appeared to be strongly related to the early growth velocity. In group 1, a moderate correlation with the palatal width and growth velocity at birth was observed. The results of the individual predictions of ar ch depths and arch widths were reasonable to fair. It was concluded th at prediction of individual arch variables at 4 years of age is possib le, although within limits. Clinically this means that extreme develop ment can be discriminated from more average development.