Strategies to improve regeneration of the soft palate muscles after cleft palate repair.
Children with a cleft in the soft palate have difficulties with speech, swallowing, and sucking. These patients are unable to separate the nasal from the oral cavity leading to air loss during speech. Although surgical repair ameliorates soft palate function by joining the clefted muscles of the soft palate, optimal function is often not achieved. The regeneration of muscles in the soft palate after surgery is hampered because of (1) their low intrinsic regenerative capacity, (2) the muscle properties related to clefting, and (3) the development of fibrosis. Adjuvant strategies based on tissue engineering may improve the outcome after surgery by approaching these specific issues. Therefore, this review will discuss myogenesis in the noncleft and cleft palate, the characteristics of soft palate muscles, and the process of muscle regeneration. Finally, novel therapeutic strategies based on tissue engineering to improve soft palate function after surgical repair are presented.
Department of Orthodontics and Craniofacial Biology, at the Nijmegen Centre for Molecular Life Sciences of the Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
Paola L
PL
Carvajal Monroy
Sander
S
Grefte
Anne Marie
AM
Kuijpers-Jagtman
Frank A D T G
FA
Wagener
Johannes W
JW
Von den Hoff
D000818:Animals; D002972:Cleft Palate / Q000150:complications / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D010156:Palatal Muscles / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000601:surgery*; D010160:Palate, Soft / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000601:surgery*; D019651:Plastic Surgery Procedures; D012038:Regeneration