CHILDREN WITH CLEFT-LIP PALATE AND MENTAL-RETARDATION - A SUBPOPULATION OF CLEFT-CRANIOFACIAL TEAM PATIENTS

This study compares a subpopulation of persons with cleft lip/palate w ho have mental retardation (n = 56) to those with normal learning (n = 420), at a large university-based cleft-craniofacial center. Many of the patients identified as having mental retardation in this sample ha ve the diagnosis of isolated cleft palate (46.8%). Nearly half (46.3%) of the patients with mental retardation were found to have multiple a nomalies, syndromes or associated medical findings. Common findings in cluded cardiopulmonary defects, seizures, and deviations in head size. In this clinic population, mental retardation was found more commonly among African-American patients with clefts, than among Caucasian pat ients with clefts. Higher rates of facial disfiguration and impaired s peech were found in patients with clefts and mental retardation. This research demonstrates that among a population of persons with cleft li p and/or cleft palate, there is a subpopulation of children who also h ave mental retardation. Craniofacial-cleft teams will need to develop strategies to address the special needs of this group of patients.