[Animal model of goat cleft palate made by uterine cavitary operations]

To investigate the effect of cleft palate on the development of the mid-part of the face so as to provide an optimum animal model for the fetal cleft repair.

Twenty female Boer hybrid goats were selected, aging from 8 to 12 months and weighing from 35 to 55 kg. The mating day was identified as 0 day of pregnancy. The goats were diagnosed with pregnancy by the B-ultrasound examination at 30 days, and were allocated into experimental group (n=14) and control group (n=6). In experimental group, uterine cavitary operation was performed at 65 days of pregnancy to form cleft palate which was a fissure between oral and nasal cavity; no treatment was given as the control group. At 120 days of pregnancy, and after 1 month and 3 months of birth, the gross observation and 3-dimensional skull CT reconstruction were performed; and the maxillary bone width named as PPMM and the maxillary bone length named as APMM were measured.

After operation, 2 goats died of infection, miscarriage occurred in 3 goats; 9 goats were included into the experiment. The operation success rate was 64.3%. In experimental group, maxillary dysplasia occurred in all the fetal goats at 120 days of pregnancy, and more obvious maxillary dysplasia was observed at 1 month and 3 months after birth; no maxillary dysplasia occurred in control group. There were significant differences in PPMM and APMM between 2 groups at different time points (P < 0.05). In experimental group, the lambs had poor chewing function, and died of pulmonary infection after aspiration at 1-4 months after birth.

The surgical procedure for partial ablation of secondary primitive palate in the midline could make the model of cleft palate.