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. 2021 Jul;46(4):314-326.
doi: 10.1080/87565641.2021.1946691. Epub 2021 Aug 4.

Brain Developmental Trajectories in Children and Young Adults with Isolated Cleft Lip and/or Cleft Palate

Emily Kuhlmann  1 , Ellen van der Plas  2 , Eric Axelson  2 , Amy L Conrad  3
Affiliations

Brain Developmental Trajectories in Children and Young Adults with Isolated Cleft Lip and/or Cleft Palate

Emily Kuhlmann et al. Dev Neuropsychol. 2021 Jul.

Abstract

The present study evaluated brain development in persons with isolated cleft lip and/or cleft palate (iCL/P) compared to unaffected controls using an accelerated longitudinal design. A sample of 134 males and females, ages 7-27 years, with iCL/P (184 observations, total) was compared to 144 unaffected controls (208 evaluations, total) on Wechsler Index scores and volumetric data from structural MRI scans. Boys with isolated cleft palate had verbal IQ 15.5 points lower than perceptual IQ; a clinically significant difference. Participants with iCL/P had differential growth trajectories of regional cerebrum matter and consistently lower volumes of cerebellar gray matter and subcortical matter.

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Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
VIQ-PIQ Difference Scores by Cleft Type and Sex. Difference scores between VIQ and PIQ (y-axis) across groups (x-axis) for females (filled circles) and males (open circles) separately. Estimated marginal means (EMMs) are shown along with 95% confidence limits of EMMs. The EMMs were adjusted for sex, SES and random effects of participants.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Models of Brain Growth Trajectories by Group (unaffected vs iCL/P). Mixed linear models for each region of interest (y-axis), with the effects of age (x-axis) and group (iCL/P = dashed line and unaffected = solid line) demonstrated. Models also controlled for sex and socioeconomic status.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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