Ventral frontal cortex morphology in adult males with isolated orofacial clefts: relationship to abnormalities in social function.

Objective: In a previous magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) study, men with nonsyndromic clefts of the lip and/or palate (NSCLP) were found to have abnormalities in the structure of the frontal lobe of the brain. Moreover, many subjects with nonsyndromic clefts of the lip and/or palate have been described as being socially inhibited. A subregion of the frontal lobe, the ventral frontal cortex (VFC), has been shown to be related to social function.

A comparison of oral-nasal balance patterns in speakers who are categorized as "almost but not quite" and "sometimes but not always".

Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine whether amplitude or temporal patterns of oral-nasal balance differentiate speakers with cleft palate who are classified as belonging to the "almost but not quite" (ABNQ) and "sometimes but not always" (SBNA) subgroups of marginal velopharyngeal inadequacy.

Design: The nasal accelerometric vibrational index (NAVI) was used to measure amplitude and temporal aspects of oral-nasal balance during the productions of oral and nasal syllables, words, and sentences. NAVI measures obtained include mean amplitude, time integral (area under the curve), duration, rise time, and fall time.

Efficacy of continuous positive airway pressure for treatment of hypernasality.

Objective: To determine whether speech hypernasality in subjects born with cleft palate can be reduced by graded velopharyngeal resistance training against continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP).

Design: Pretreatment versus immediate posttreatment comparison study.

Setting: Eight university and hospital speech clinics.

Structural brain abnormalities in adult males with clefts of the lip and/or palate.

Purpose: To evaluate brain morphology of adult males with nonsyndromic clefts of the lip and/or palate (NSCLP) in comparison to a matched healthy control group.

Methods: Brain structure was measured using quantitative analysis of magnetic resonance images.

Results: Subjects with NSCLP had significant abnormalities in brain morphology consisting of abnormally enlarged anterior regions of the cerebrum, and decreased volumes of the posterior cerebrum and cerebellum.

Abnormal brain morphology in patients with isolated cleft lip, cleft palate, or both: a preliminary analysis.

Objective: The aim of this study was to determine whether adult men with cleft lip and palate (CLP) have aberrant cerebral morphology.

Design: Brain morphology of 14 adult men with isolated CLP were analyzed and compared with 14 healthy controls matched for sex, age, and parental socioeconomic status.

Setting: The research took place at a large, tertiary care hospital, with participation on an outpatient basis.