Middle Ear Pathologies in Different Types of Cleft Palate

Background: The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of a history of aural pathologies in patients with cleft palate referred to Cleft Lip/Palate team of Isfahan University of Medical Sciences between 2005 and 2011,and to identify possible associations between patients' cleft type and their middle ear health status. Methods: A file review of 833 patients with different kinds of orofacial clefts, who had been referred to the mentioned cleft palate team in 2005 to 2011,was performed. Then patients who suffered from Non-cleft velopharengeal insufficiencies and patients that didn't have any information about the middle ear health status and were not assessed by the otolaryngologist too, were excluded. Finally, the prevalence of a history of aural pathologies (including otitis media with effusion, recurrent acute otitis media and/or hearing impairments)and its association with type of cleft was studied in 675 patients. Results: 52.1% of our patients with different types of orofacial cleft had experienced a history of aural pathologies. Middle ear status was related to type of cleft and its prevalence was much higher in patients with different kinds of cleft palate compared with cleft lip/ alveoli (p<0.001). Conclusion: It is possible that we underestimated the prevalence of middle ear pathologies in our patients. Because we had to confine our study to take a history about middle ear health status. Therefore, it seems that we need a careful modification to our team audiologic screening protocols in order to early identification of treatable aural pathologies and prevention of their consequences and to optimize the speech, language and cognitive development of children with clefts.