The Study of Speech Disorders and Middle Ear Diseases Following Primary Palatoplasty in Children with Cleft Palate

Background: Children with cleft lip and palate experience many problems such as feeding problems, hearing disorders, and speech and language disorders. The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of middle ear diseases, hypernasality, and compensatory errors following primary palatoplasty in children with cleft palate with or without cleft lip; and to assess the effect of middle ear problems on speech production in these children. Methods: A retrospective file review of 120 patients with different kinds of orofacial clefts, who coming to Isfahan cleft palate team in Alzahra (SA) hospital in 2005 to 2007, was performed and the prevalence of middle ear problems, hypernasality and compensatory errors of 38 3-6 year old children with cleft palate with or without cleft lip was calculated. Moreover, the associations between the history of middle ear problems and hypernasality and compensatory errors were studied. Findings: 47.4% of patients experienced repeated episodes of otitis media. Also, compensatory errors and some degrees of hypernasality were observed in 78.9% and 71% of our sample, respectively. These speech disorders were not associated with middle ear status of children (P > 0.05). But hypernasality was related to articulation disorders, significantly (P = 0.001). Conclusion: In current study, the high prevalence of accompanying problems with cleft palate, especially hypernasality and compensatory errors were observed. Therefore in order to achieve better outcomes in children with cleft palate, we should improve our surgical treatment techniques and another intervention through appropriate multidisciplinary team management.