Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 28, 2026
Method of Studying Palatal Fusion using Static Organ Culture
Published on: September 19, 2015
Prenatal Consultation Outcomes for Infants With Cleft Lip With and Without Cleft Palate
Rachel L Thompson1, Heidi L Thorson2, Sivakumar Chinnadurai3,4
1University of Minnesota Medical School, Minneapolis, MN, USA.
Insights
Prenatal consultation for cleft lip/palate (CL±P) improves infant outcomes. Infants with prenatal care had shorter hospital stays, earlier surgery, and fewer feeding support visits.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Otolaryngology
- Craniofacial Surgery
- Neonatal Care
Background:
- Cleft lip with or without cleft palate (CL±P) requires multidisciplinary care.
- Prenatal diagnosis allows for early intervention planning.
- The impact of prenatal consultation on infant outcomes is not fully elucidated.
Purpose of the Study:
- To assess the clinical impacts of prenatal consultation with a multidisciplinary cleft team on infants with CL±P.
- Evaluate effects on hospitalization duration, surgical timing, and feeding support needs.
Main Methods:
- Retrospective case series comparing infants with and without prenatal consultation.
- Data collected from a tertiary pediatric hospital (June 2005-December 2019).
- Primary outcomes: early hospitalization length, surgical repair timing, post-surgical stay, and feeding evaluation visits.
Main Results:
- Prenatal consultation group showed significantly earlier cleft lip repair (13.4 vs. 15.3 weeks).
- Infants with prenatal consultation had shorter hospitalizations for feeding difficulties (4.9 vs. 11.5 days).
- Fewer unplanned speech-language pathologist (SLP) visits for feeding issues were observed in the prenatal consultation group (2.7% vs. 11.3%).
Conclusions:
- Prenatal consultation for CL±P is associated with improved clinical outcomes.
- Benefits include reduced early hospitalizations, earlier surgical repair, and decreased need for feeding support.
- Multidisciplinary prenatal care positively impacts infant management for CL±P.
Abstract:
To assess the clinical impacts of prenatal consultation with a multidisciplinary cleft team on infants with cleft lip with or without cleft palate (CL ± P).
Abstract:
Retrospective cases series.
Abstract:
Tertiary pediatric hospital.
Abstract:
Infants with CL ± P whose mothers received prenatal consultation with a pediatric otolaryngology team from June 2005 to December 2019 were identified. A random sample of infants with CL ± P without prenatal consultation from June 2005 to December 2019 was also identified.
Abstract:
The primary outcomes were the length of hospitalization during the first 12 weeks of life, timing of surgical repair, length of postsurgical hospitalization, and number of unplanned clinic visits and phone calls for feeding evaluation.
Abstract:
Time to cleft lip repair differed significantly between the 2 groups with repair performed at 13.4 (±0.9) weeks for the prenatal consultation group (n = 73) and 15.3 (±2.1) weeks for the control group (n = 80), (P < .05). If hospitalization was required for feeding difficulties during the first 12 weeks of life, length of stay was 4.9 (± 1.7) days for infants with prenatal consultation and 11.5 (± 7.2) days for control infants (P < .05). Unplanned clinic visits with a speech-language pathologist (SLP) for feeding difficulties were needed for 2.7% of prenatal consultation infants and 11.3% of control infants (P < .05).
Abstract:
Prenatal consultation regarding CL ± P resulted in infants with decreased duration of early hospitalizations, earlier cleft lip repair, and decreased engagement with the SLP feeding clinic for feeding difficulties when compared with infants without prenatal consultation.
