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Prevalence of Rare Craniofacial Clefts
Abdoljalil Kalantar-Hormozi1, Ali Abbaszadeh-Kasbi, Farhood Goravanchi
1*Department of Plastic and Craniofacial Surgery, Medical College of Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Science (SBMU), 15 Khordad Hospital †Tehran University of Medical Science ‡Medical College of Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Science (SBMU), 15 Khordad Hospital §Private Practice, Tehran, Iran.
Insights
Rare craniofacial clefts, affecting 8.29% of patients, were most commonly Tessier number 0. Etiologies remain unclear, highlighting the need for patient education on risk factors.
Area of Science:
- Plastic Surgery
- Congenital Malformations
- Genetics
Background:
- Craniofacial clefts are rare congenital anomalies with significant functional, psychosocial, and aesthetic impacts.
- Estimated incidence ranges from 1.4 to 4.9 per 100,000 live births, with imprecise prevalence due to limited literature.
- Etiologies of rare craniofacial clefts are not well understood.
Purpose of the Study:
- To analyze the incidence and classification of rare craniofacial clefts.
- To identify the most and least common types of rare craniofacial clefts based on the Tessier classification.
- To explore potential risk factors associated with rare craniofacial clefts.
Main Methods:
- A retrospective study included patients with rare craniofacial clefts over 10 years at a plastic surgery tertiary referral hospital.
- The Tessier craniofacial clefting classification system was utilized for categorization.
- Data on patient demographics, family history, and maternal risk factors were collected.
Main Results:
- Out of 964 craniofacial cleft patients, 80 (8.29%) had rare types.
- Tessier number 0 was the most frequent (58.7%), while numbers 8, 13, and 30 were the rarest. Clefts 5, 6, and 9 were absent.
- Positive family history was noted in 37.5% of patients. Maternal smoking (1.3%) and drug use (2.3%) were reported.
Conclusions:
- Tessier number 0 is the most common rare craniofacial cleft, with numbers 8, 13, and 30 being the rarest.
- The exact etiology of these rare clefts remains undetermined.
- Educating women on risk factors and prevention is crucial.
Background:
Craniofacial clefts are extremely rare congenital malformations that have adverse functional, psychosocial, and aesthetic effects on patients' life. Although the exact incidence is unclear, it is estimated between 1.4 and 4.9 per 100,000 live births. Prevalence of the rare craniofacial clefts is imprecise due to the paucity of literature as well as their etiologies.
Methods:
All the patients with rare craniofacial clefts during 10 years in a plastic surgery tertiary referral hospital were included, and Tessier craniofacial clefting classification was used for classifying the clefts.
Results:
Of 964 patients with craniofacial clefts, 80 (8.29%) patients were identified with rare craniofacial clefts. There were 39 (48.7%) males and 41 (51.3%) females. Family history was determined positive in 30 (37.5%) patients. Tessier number 0 (58.7%) was the most common cleft in the authors' study. Tessier numbers 8, 13, and 30 were the rarest clefts. There was no patient with Clefts numbers 5, 6, or 9. Maternal smoking during pregnancy was observed in 1 (1.3%) of the women and 3 of the women had used drugs, 1 of them used the dexamethasone tablets and 2 of them could not remember name of the used drug.
Conclusions:
Tessier number 0 was the most common cleft and Tessier numbers 8, 13, and 30 were the rarest types. The precise etiology of rare craniofacial clefts remained undetermined in this study. Women should be educated about the risk factors and subsequent ways of preventing from these risk factors.
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