Cleft lip and palate in Nigerian children and adults: a comparative study

A survey of cleft lip and palate in 160 Nigerians is presented. In clefts of the lip alone, there was no sex predilection whereas cleft lip and palate cases showed a slight male preponderance. 119 (74.4%) cases presented below the age of 12 years and 41 (25.6%) cases were first seen above 12 years of age. Only a few cleft lip and palate cases survived to adulthood possibly because of malnutrition combined with the lethal effects of associated congenital abnormalities. This study confirms the view that late primary repair of clefts is less likely to produce impaired growth of the maxilla due to contraction of scar tissue commonly seen in early surgery. The importance of early primary repair is emphasised.