title: A glance at methods for cleft palate repair.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Cleft palate is the second most common birth defect and is considered as a challenge for pediatric plastic surgeons. There is still a general lack of a standard protocol and patients often require multiple surgical interventions during their lifetime along with disappointing results.
  
  
  METHODS
  PubMed search was undertaken using search terms including 'cleft palate repair', 'palatal cleft closure', 'cleft palate + stem cells', 'cleft palate + plasma rich platelet', 'cleft palate + scaffold', 'palatal tissue engineering', and 'bone tissue engineering'. The found articles were included if they defined a therapeutic strategy and/or assessed a new technique.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We reported a summary of the key-points concerning cleft palate development, the genes involving this defect, current therapeutic strategies, recently novel aspects, and future advances in treatments for easy and fast understanding of the concepts, rather than a systematic review. In addition, the results were integrated with our recent experience.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Tissue engineering may open a new window in cleft palate reconstruction. Stem cells and growth factors play key roles in this field.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, School of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, IR Iran.
authors.forename: Sima
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tavakolinejad
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, School of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, IR Iran.
authors.forename: Alireza
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ebrahimzadeh Bidskan
authors.affiliation: Student Research Committee, Faculty of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, IR Iran.
authors.forename: Hami
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ashraf
authors.affiliation: Biochemistry and Nutrition Research Center, Faculty of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, IR Iran.
authors.forename: Daryoush
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Hamidi Alamdari
keywords: Cleft Lip; Cleft Palate; Embryonic Stem Cells; Mesenchymal Stem Cells; Platelet-Derived Growth Factor; Platelet-Rich Plasma; Transforming Growth Factor