Clinical Pattern And Distribution Of Cleft Deformity Seen In Two Northern Nigerian Hospitals

Abstract

Introduction
A retrospective study was conducted at two referral hospitals under the smile train project for a 4-year period (January 2012 to December 2015) to determine the hospital-based epidemiology of cleft lip and palate in Northern Nigeria. The objective of this study was to establish the frequency, laterality, age at presentation and gender distribution of cleft lip and palate seen at the two Northern Nigerian hospitals.

Materials and Methods
Cleft lip and/or palate records were obtained from patient files from the Medical Record Departments of University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital (UMTH) and Mercy land Specialist Hospital (MSH), both in Maiduguri, Borno State. Information obtained included age at presentation, sex, cleft type and laterality. In addition, presence of associated congenital anomalies or syndromes were also recorded.

Results
A total of 811 cases of non-syndromic and 15 (2%) syndromic cleft cases were seen during the period of the study. A wide age range at presentation was observed (1 month - 65 years) with about 69.7% of all cleft cases presenting within the first decade of life. The average age of presentation was 7.1 years.
Males were more predominant in all age groups. The most common cleft type was unilateral cleft lip only (UCL) constituting 77% of all cleft deformities. The distribution of clefts by side showed a preponderance of the left side (60.8%). The association between cleft type and laterality was statistically significant (p = 0.048).

Conclusion
This study observed that unilateral cleft lip was the most common presentation in Northern Nigerian children.