[Artery supply of the lip and palate in normal and cleft patients]

50 normal and 10 cleft lip and palate head and neck specimens were studied by dissection and arteriography. The results are as follows: 1. In unilateral complete cleft lip, the superior labial artery runs along the labial margin and cleft edge, ending in base of nasal wing on the lateral side. In the medial side, upper labial artery ends in the base of the columella. 2. In the bilateral complete cleft lip, artery supply of superior lip is similar to the lateral side of unilateral complete cleft lip. The artery supplying the philtrum and premaxilla comes from the posterior septal artery, anterior ethmoid artery, nasal alar artery and/or lateral nasal artery. 3. Normal palate is supplied by six pairs of arteries. They are greater and lesser palatine artery, lesser palatine artery, nasopalatine artery, ascending palatine artery, ascending pharyngeal and palatine, artery tonsillar artery. In the cleft palate, the anterior branch of the ascending palatine artery becomes smaller and the posterior branch has shifted forward and runs forward along the cleft edge. The palatine branch of the ascending pharyngeal does not run along the palato--pharyngeal muscle, but descends from the base of skull along the levator palate muscle to the soft palate.