Clinical outcomes of ventilation tube placement in children with cleft palate

The purpose of this study was to investigate the long-term clinical outcomes in children with cleft palate.

One hundred eight patients with cleft palate (CP) were investigated. Microscopic observation of the middle ears was performed periodically. If chronic otitis media with effusion (OME) was diagnosed at 1 year of age or later, ventilation tube (VT) placement was performed. The air-filled area of the mastoid air cells was checked on X-rays obtained at 1 and 5 years. The data from each measurement were tested statistically by the bootstrap method and Wilcoxon's rank-sum test. The clinical course from age 6 to the final examination (average 9.42 years) and the language development at 5 years were analyzed using data from the medical records of individual patients.

VT placements were performed at 5 years of age or younger in 41 CP patients (82 ears, 38%). About 30% of patients treated by VT placement at 5 years of age or younger required myringotomy and/or VT re-placement at 6 years of age or over. Ninety-five percent of patients who had not been treated by VT insertion at 5 years of age or younger showed a favorable subsequent clinical course. Patients treated by VT insertion at 5 years of age or younger had significantly smaller mastoid air cell areas as measured at 5 years of age and also at 1 year of age. No significant difference in language development was observed between the CP patients that underwent /did not undergo VT placement.

VT placement should be positively undertaken in CP children who have small mastoid air cell areas as measured at 1 year of age, because an unfavorable prognosis of OME is expected in such patients. It is considered that patients treated by VT placement at 5 years of age or younger should be carefully followed up for the development of OME even after 6 years of age. Thus, measurement of the mastoid air cell area at the age of 1 year is useful for determining the therapeutic program.