[The late results following velopharyngoplasty. A data comparison of the 2 cleft centers of Hamburg and Rostock]

Speech results were evaluated in 349 patients following velopharyngoplasty in all cases according to Sanvenero-Rosselli. Velopharyngoplasty was performed several years after palatoplasty in either the Rostock or the Hamburg cleft centers. Comparison of the data revealed that the outcome after velopharyngoplasty in relation to speech was more or less the same in the patients from both centers. In 90% of the patients with clefts of the lip, alveolus, and palate, and in over 90% of those patients with only cleft palates, voice sound was at a level between 1 and 2 on a scale to 3 and on average levels of 1.46 and 1.53 were achieved. These results document that the surgery, when combined with close interdisciplinary team work with the speech therapist, culminated in the successful rehabilitation of cleft patients at both cleft centers.