Smarius B, Loozen C, Manten W, Bekker M, Pistorius L, Breugem C. Accurate diagnosis of prenatal cleft lip/palate by understanding the embryology. World J Methodol 2017; 7(3): 93-100 [PMID: 29026689 DOI: 10.5662/wjm.v7.i3.93]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Bram Smarius, MD, Division of Pediatric Plastic Surgery, Cleft Palate Team, Wilhelmina Children’s Hospital, PO Box 85090, 3584 EA Utrecht, The Netherlands. b.j.a.smarius@umcutrecht.nl
Research Domain of This Article
Medical Laboratory Technology
Article-Type of This Article
Diagnostic Advances
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Bram Smarius, Charlotte Loozen, Corstiaan Breugem, Division of Pediatric Plastic Surgery, Cleft Palate Team, Wilhelmina Children’s Hospital, 3584 EA Utrecht, The Netherlands
Wendy Manten, Mireille Bekker, Division of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Wilhelmina Children’s Hospital, 3584 EA Utrecht, The Netherlands
Lou Pistorius, Division of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Stellenbosch University and Tygerberg Hospital, Cape Town 7500, South Africa
Author contributions: All authors contributed to this paper.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Bram Smarius, MD, Division of Pediatric Plastic Surgery, Cleft Palate Team, Wilhelmina Children’s Hospital, PO Box 85090, 3584 EA Utrecht, The Netherlands. b.j.a.smarius@umcutrecht.nl
Telephone: +31-88-7556954 Fax: +31-30-2516097
Received: December 15, 2016 Peer-review started: December 19, 2016 First decision: March 28, 2017 Revised: May 15, 2017 Accepted: May 30, 2017 Article in press: May 31, 2017 Published online: September 26, 2017
Abstract
Cleft lip with or without cleft palate (CP) is one of the most common congenital malformations. Ultrasonographers involved in the routine 20-wk ultrasound screening could encounter these malformations. The face and palate develop in a very characteristic way. For ultrasonographers involved in screening these patients it is crucial to have a thorough understanding of the embryology of the face. This could help them to make a more accurate diagnosis and save time during the ultrasound. Subsequently, the current postnatal classification will be discussed to facilitate the communication with the CP teams.
Core tip: Cleft lip/palate is a very common craniofacial malformation. Currently a thorough ultrasound examination during the 20-wk ultrasound is performed to exclude an oral cleft of the face. This study provides important embryological information to facilitate the ultrasonographer in making an accurate diagnosis and safe time during the ultrasound. Subsequently, the current postnatal classification will be discussed to facilitate the communication with the cleft palate teams.
