HARELIP

A cleft lip is an opening or division in the upper lip that occurs when the facial structures of an unborn baby develop incompletely.

Do you know how many children are born with this deficiency?

Around 10% of children are born with cleft lips

The congenital defects is called cleft lip, wich consist of a cleft or separation in the upper lip. The cleft lip originates from the incomplete fusion of the maxillary and nasomedial processes of the embryo and is one of the most frequent birth defects.

It occurs when the tissue that forms the lips does not bind completely before birth. This causes an opening in the upper lip. Children with a cleft lip can also have a cleft palate

It occurs in the gestation period around the 20th week of a pregnancy

worth the overflow this deficiency originates in the baby's upper lip

It is on the cleft palate which causes it to show on the lip

Is the cause of this congenital defect genetic and also hereditary?

It is of multifactorial origin, where genetic and environmental factors are involved.

of agents that cause abnormalities during the development of the fetus. Among the latter are

mention, in pregnant women, stress, avitaminosis, drug and alcohol use, the

Bad smoking habit. Risk factors include a family history of cleft lip or cleft palate.

Is it associated with other malformations?

Some of these patients are born with associated malformations, such as kidney disorders

Does it affect both male and female sex?

It is observed more frequently in the male sex, although the

difference.

Do advances in diagnostic means and in Medical Genetics allow for

Current prenatal diagnosis?

Certainly. It is possible to detect it by Ultrasound, or by blood tests that they are performed to pregnant women for the quantification of the fetal protein known as alphafetoprotein This allows to determine the existence of defects incompatible with life, or

compatible as is the case of cleft lip.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUr-5Rwy8VY

Signs and symptoms of a submucosal fissure of the palate may include the following:

Difficulty with feeding
Difficulty swallowing, with the possibility of liquids or food coming out of the nose
Nasal voice when speaking
Chronic ear infections

Do these babies require special care at birth?

—The mother and other relatives receive guidance on how to proceed for the purposes of

Boy or girl feeding. If there is a palatal fissure, two or three weeks after birth,

they make a so-called "passive plate", an attachment that is placed on the palate

to keep the jaw in a proper position until the intervention is performed

surgical

- In which institutions do you practice these surgical treatments?

—In the Maxillofacial Surgery Services of all pediatric hospitals in the country.

—In general, what is the prognosis of these patients?

-Is very good. Most of them can achieve an appearance, language and form of

normal feeding

"Any punctualization?"

- Highlight the essential that is the systematic support parents should offer,

mainly in strict compliance with the exercises indicated by the specialists

in speech therapy and speech therapy, aimed at perfecting speech.