Assessment of Skeletal Maturation in Male Children With Unilateral Cleft Lip and Palate

Abstract

Objectives: To assess the skeletal maturation in male children with unilateral cleft lip and palate (UCLP) in comparison to that of noncleft peers using the cervical vertebral maturation (CVM) method. Methods: A sample of 149 male UCLP patients aged from 8- to 16-year-old and 447 age-matched orthodontic individuals without clefts was retrospectively compiled. Cervical vertebral maturation was assessed based on the cephalometric radiographs. Results: The proportion of children in CVMSI and CVMSII was higher in the UCLP group compared to that in the noncleft group, but there was no significant difference in the CVM stage of the cleft patients compared to their noncleft peers. In the 12- to 14-year-old group, children with UCLP showed significantly delayed skeletal maturity in comparison with their noncleft peers. No significant difference was found in the other 3 age groups. There was a statistically significant correlation between the skeletal age and chronological age in both the UCLP group and the noncleft group. There was no significant difference in the mean age at CVMII and CVMIII between the cleft patients and noncleft peers. Conclusions: Males with UCLP aged 12- to 14-year-old have a statistically significant increased risk of delayed skeletal maturity in comparison with their noncleft peers. The chronological age is not an accurate indicator to assess the degree of skeletal maturation.

Assessment of Skeletal Maturation in Nonsyndromic Cleft and Non-cleft Children—A Comparative Study

“…27 Previous literature also reported that cleft boys delay in attaining skeletal maturation than non-cleft boys. 25,28,40 These data support the need for keeping both sex and diagnostic categories separate when conducting etiological searches. In addition, cleft children might show slight growth retardation in early maturational stages, but they catch up with normal growth during the pubertal growth spurt.…”

“…In contrast, another study reported a delay in skeletal maturation before the pubertal growth spurt of (pre)adolescents with CL/P, especially girls 27 . Previous literature also reported that cleft boys delay in attaining skeletal maturation than non-cleft boys 25,28,40 . These data support the need for keeping both sex and diagnostic categories separate when conducting etiological searches.…”

Dental and skeletal maturation of Chinese male children with unilateral cleft lip and palate

“…Furthermore, congenital cervical vertebrae anomalies have been reported in patients with CL/P [14], thus indicating that skeletal maturation is affected by the disease. Our previous research found that when boys with unilateral complete cleft lip and palate (UCLP) were 12 to 14 years-of-age, their skeletal maturity was significantly delayed when compared to controls [15]. However, there is no general agreement on whether CL/P patients and normal controls have different levels of skeletal maturity [16].…”