Stature of Russian children with isolated cleft lip and palate

Objective: To evaluate the stature of Russian children with cleft lip and p alate (CLP), Design: One hundred twelve Russian children predominantly with repaired uni lateral CLP 4 through 10 years of age underwent studies including height me asurement, physical examinations, and record review. Children with health c oncerns that could affect growth were excluded. U.S. growth data from the N ational Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) and Russian parental heights we re used in the absence of Russian growth norms. Results: Based on U.S. norms, the distribution curve for heights for the Ru ssian children was largely confined to the +1 to -1 standard deviation (SD) range, Sixty-two percent of the Russian children had heights below the 50t h percentile for American female and male children of the same age. The pro portion of children found outside the +1 to -1 SD range approximated the pr oportion expected statistically for the general population, with 14.4% < -I SD (16th percentile) and 12% > +I SD (84th percentile). A total of 3.6% of the children ranked below the third percentile, which is close to the expe cted 3%, Russian parents' (n = 209) mean heights were 0.5 SD below NCHS's 5 0th percentile values for adults. Conclusion: These results indicate that there is no increased risk of true short stature in 4- to 10-year-old Russian children with repaired CLP.