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Updated: May 30, 2026

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Published on: February 29, 2020
Structural abnormalities of the central auditory pathway in infants with nonsyndromic cleft lip and/or palate
Frank F Yang1, Bradley McPherson, Huang Shu
1Center for Communication Disorders, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China. hkufrank@hotmail.com
Objective:
To investigate possible structural abnormalities of the central auditory pathway in infants with nonsyndromic cleft lip and/or palate (NSCL/P).
Participants:
Twenty-seven Chinese infants with NSCL/P, aged from 6 to 24 months.
Intervention:
Morphological magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) measurements of the central auditory nervous system (CANS) in infants with NSCL/P were analyzed and compared with those of age- and sex-matched normal controls.
Results:
No significant group differences were found in general brain measurements, including volumes of the brain stem and right hemisphere. However, infants with NSCL/P had statistically significantly smaller volumes of the left thalamus and left auditory cortex and notably decreased thickness of the left auditory cortex.
Conclusion:
Cortical abnormalities were more marked compared with other MRI measurements. Structural CANS abnormalities in infants with NSCL/P may be located mainly in the left cerebral hemisphere. The development and maturation of the auditory cortex in infants with NSCL/P may be abnormal when compared with those of normal children.
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