Linear growth characteristics of children with cleft lip and palate

Abstract

Objective: To study the linear growth characteristics of children with isolated cleft lip (CL), cleft palate (CP), or both (CLP) and to determine whether this population is at risk for short stature.

Study design: Retrospective chart review identified 324 patients with CL, CP, or CLP that displayed no additional congenital anomalies. Longitudinal height and growth rate analyses were performed on routine anthropometric measurements gathered from hospital and clinic records. One-sample t tests (p < 0.05) of average height percentiles were performed at yearly intervals. Analysis of variance was performed on clefting subgroups.

Results: From birth to 10 years of age, the average height of both male and female white patients is consistently near the 40th percentile. At yearly intervals, 60% of male and 70% of female average heights demonstrate statistical difference from the population mean. For all patients, 64% of male but only 36% of female growth rates, from 2.5 to 12 years of age, were above the population mean.

Conclusions: White children from birth to 10 years of age with isolated CL, CP, or CLP demonstrated a mean height below the population mean. These data suggest that children with isolated clefting manifest an intrinsic tendency toward short stature. In addition, male patients display above-average growth rates, whereas female patients display below-average growth rates, from 2 to 18 years of age. The data imply that female patients may be at increased risk of overall short stature, whereas male patients may eventually obtain mean population height.