A MODIFICATION OF THE KERNAHAN Y CLASSIFICATION IN CLEFT-LIP AND PALATE DEFORMITIES

The search for a universally accepted system of classifying cleft lip and palate deformities has yielded many models of varying complexity. Recently, there has been a trend toward symbolic classification system s that allow members of the cleft team to quickly assess the nature of the deformity. The existing systems, however, have limitations. These include inadequate description of the cleft lip deformity and complex ity of nomenclature. A modification of Kernahan's striped Y classifica tion is proposed that addresses these problems. This system was applie d to 150 cleft patients, and it was found that it was able to describe all varieties of clefts encountered. In contrast, the Kernahan system could only describe 74.7 percent of the patients adequately.