Why some children are born with cleft lips or palates is mostly unknown in the medical community. It occurs in the United States in about one out of 1000 births. Fortunately our medical system is able to provide corrective surgery for those children as infants. In other parts of the world physicians are not available, especially for the poor. The stigma of a malformed face can be devastating.
Dr. Chin To Fong, a leading geneticist and pediatrician, states that in 70 % of these cases the cleft lip is nonsyndromic, meaning there are no other problems. There could be a cleft lip, cleft palate or both, but these children will have no other birth defects. He ascribes the causes to be only 30 % genetic (if one child in the family has the defect there is a 2-3% chance another child will as well) and 70 % environmental. The environmental causes are unclear but could be related to prescribed drugs in pregnancy or a lack of folic acid. Nonsyndromic cleft lips are most common in Asia and least common among Africans.
The other 30 % of cases are syndromic with indisputable genetic causes. These children also have other birth defects ranging from malformed fingers to congenital heart disease. Recurrence in a family could be 25-50 % depending on the syndrome.
Dr. Mark Weinstein, a plastic surgeon from Yale-New Haven Medical Center, has led over 30 medical mission trips through Healing the Children and his foundation Changing Children’s Lives. He along with Dr. Fong and a medical team spent early November in Pereira, Colombia repairing lips and palates free of charge to 54 patients. While several were infants many were already teenagers who have endured the loss of self esteem and often issues with speech. Families traveled from miles away and the appreciation was immeasurable.
Dr. Jessica Wagner, a graduate of Oshkosh North High School, volunteered her services as a pediatric anesthesiologist. Wagner who has been on five such mission trips says, “It’s exciting and rewarding to see how a relatively simple procedure can change a child’s life.”
Comments