Scandcleft Project Trial 3: Comparison of Speech Outcomes in Relation to Sequence in 2-Stage Palatal Repair Procedures in 5-Year-Olds With Unilateral Cleft Lip and Palate.

Objective: To compare speech outcome following different sequencing of hard and soft palate closure between arms and centers within trial 3 and compare results to peers without cleft palate.

Design: A prospective randomized clinical trial.

Setting: Two Norwegian and 2 British centers.

A Scandcleft randomised trials of primary surgery for unilateral cleft lip and palate: 1. Planning and management.

Background And Aims: Longstanding uncertainty surrounds the selection of surgical protocols for the closure of unilateral cleft lip and palate, and randomised trials have only rarely been performed. This paper is an introduction to three randomised trials of primary surgery for children born with complete unilateral cleft lip and palate (UCLP). It presents the protocol developed for the trials in CONSORT format, and describes the management structure that was developed to achieve the long-term engagement and commitment required to complete the project.

Scandcleft randomised trials of primary surgery for unilateral cleft lip and palate: 2. Surgical results.

Background: Longstanding uncertainty surrounds the selection of surgical protocols for unilateral cleft lip and palate, and randomised trials have only rarely been performed. The Scandcleft Project consists of three trials commenced in 1997 involving ten centres in Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden, and the UK. Three groups of centres tested a newly-defined common technique for palatal repair (Arm A) against their local protocols (Arms B, C, D).

Superiorly based pharyngeal flap for treatment of velopharyngeal insufficiency in patients with 22q11.2 deletion syndrome.

Background: There are no previous blinded studies for comparison of preoperative versus postoperative perceptual speech assessments when using a pharyngeal flap for treating velopharyngeal insufficiency (VPI) in patients diagnosed with 22q11.2 deletion syndrome. The aim of the study was to evaluate the effect of superiorly based pharyngeal flap surgery on speech in these patients using blinded judgments of experienced speech therapists.

Speech and magnetic resonance imaging results following autologous fat transplantation to the velopharynx in patients with velopharyngeal insufficiency.

Objective: To measure velopharyngeal closure with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and to evaluate speech when treating velopharyngeal insufficiency (VPI) with autologous fat transplantation to the velopharynx.

Patients: Nine patients were recruited. Six patients had undergone cleft palate repair and subsequently developed VPI.