Lateral facial clefts: closure with W-plasty and implications of speech and language development.
Lateral facial clefts are rare; their incidence is about 1 in 60,000 births. Early treatment with closure in layers is stressed. The mucosa is closed in with a Z-plasty to avoid intraoral band contracture, the orbicularis muscle is closed after interfiber reorientation, and the skin is closed with W-plasty to produce a more aesthetic result and avoid the fissure-like appearance. A familial incidence is noted. Language development is observed before and after the surgical corrective procedure.
D000328:Adult; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002971:Cleft Lip / Q000601:surgery*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007804:Language Development; D008297:Male; D013060:Speech; D013518:Surgery, Plastic / Q000379:methods*; D013524:Surgical Flaps