[Summary] ((Haapanen, adiposity M. L., physician Rantala, order S. L. (1992) Correlation between the age at repair
and speech outcome in patients with isolated cleft palate. Scandinavian Journal of Plastic
and Reconstructive Surgery and Hand Surgery, 26(1):71-8))
This assessment of the effect of the age at primary palatal repair on the speech of 3-year
old children with isolated cleft palate was carried out by the Cleft Centre, Helsinki
University Central Hospital, Finland, and reported in 1992.
108 children in total were
assessed. The mean ages at which palates were repaired were 12.9 months (n=45), 18.5 months
(n=18) and 22.1 months (n=45).
The recorded signs of cleft palate speech and speech
impairment were hypernasality, audible nasal air emission, and misarticulations associated
with velopharyngeal insufficiency.
The results showed that the children who were operated
on at the age of about 12 to 18 months were significantly better speakers than those
operated on later. Of these, 73% (n=46) were rated as normal or practically normal speakers,
while only 22% (n=10) of children whose repairs were delayed until about 22 months achieved
the same rating.
Some 41% of the late closure group required secondary surgery to
eliminate signs of cleft palate speech associated with velopharyngeal inadequacy. The figure
for the early group was 9%, while none of the middle group required secondary surgery.