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A glance at methods for cleft palate repair
Sima Tavakolinejad1, Alireza Ebrahimzadeh Bidskan1, Hami Ashraf2
1Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, School of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, IR Iran.
Insights
Tissue engineering offers promising new approaches for cleft palate reconstruction, addressing a common birth defect. Stem cells and growth factors are crucial for advancing these innovative treatments.
Area of Science:
- Craniofacial Surgery
- Regenerative Medicine
- Pediatric Plastic Surgery
Background:
- Cleft palate is a frequent congenital anomaly, posing significant challenges in pediatric plastic surgery.
- Current treatment protocols lack standardization, often necessitating multiple surgeries with suboptimal outcomes.
Purpose of the Study:
- To provide a comprehensive overview of cleft palate development and therapeutic strategies.
- To explore novel aspects and future advancements in cleft palate treatment, including tissue engineering.
Main Methods:
- Literature search using terms like 'cleft palate repair', 'stem cells', 'tissue engineering', and 'bone tissue engineering'.
- Inclusion criteria focused on articles defining therapeutic strategies or assessing new techniques for palatal cleft closure.
Main Results:
- Summarized key aspects of cleft palate development and associated genes.
- Highlighted current therapeutic strategies and emerging novel approaches.
- Integrated findings with recent clinical experiences for practical insights.
Conclusions:
- Tissue engineering presents a promising frontier for cleft palate reconstruction.
- Stem cells and growth factors are identified as pivotal components in advancing this field.
Context:
Cleft palate is the second most common birth defect and is considered as a challenge for pediatric plastic surgeons. There is still a general lack of a standard protocol and patients often require multiple surgical interventions during their lifetime along with disappointing results.
Evidence Acquisition:
PubMed search was undertaken using search terms including 'cleft palate repair', 'palatal cleft closure', 'cleft palate + stem cells', 'cleft palate + plasma rich platelet', 'cleft palate + scaffold', 'palatal tissue engineering', and 'bone tissue engineering'. The found articles were included if they defined a therapeutic strategy and/or assessed a new technique.
Results:
We reported a summary of the key-points concerning cleft palate development, the genes involving this defect, current therapeutic strategies, recently novel aspects, and future advances in treatments for easy and fast understanding of the concepts, rather than a systematic review. In addition, the results were integrated with our recent experience.
Conclusions:
Tissue engineering may open a new window in cleft palate reconstruction. Stem cells and growth factors play key roles in this field.
