LENGTH OF THE CERVICAL-SPINE AS A FACTOR IN THE ETIOLOGY OF CLEFT-PALATE

The length of the cervical spine in a series of 206 adult males with c left lip and/or palate and 50 normal controls was measured. The patien ts were divided into five subgroups according to the type and extent o f the cleft. The shortening of the spine was most marked in bilateral cleft lip and palate patients (complete), less marked in unilateral cl eft lip and palate patients, and was slight in isolated cleft palate p atients. Complete isolated cleft palate and cleft lip was not associat ed with a shortening of the spine. A shortening of the cervical spine in less extensive types of isolated cleft palate was suggestive of the participation of the spine in their development, while in cleft lip a nd palate a simultaneous exposure to a teratogenic agent or any other developmental error during early stages of embryogenesis could explain the concomitant occurrence of spine anomalies. Patients with cleft li p and palate associated with a short spine also had a shorter mandibul ar ramus, which could be suggestive of simultaneous damage to both str uctures during morphogenesis. This relationship was not demonstrated i n isolated cleft palate that developed in later stages of embryogenesi s. In these cases a short spine itself could not have impaired the gro wth potential of the mandible, yet it could have mechanically induced the development of cleft palate. These observations are in agreement w ith the present state of knowledge on the development of orofacial cle fts as shown in experimental animals.