Concomitant developmental anomalies of the face in patients with clefts of lip (alveolus, and palate) or cleft palates.

Out of 2,829 cleft patients of Nordwestdeutsche Kieferklinik Hamburg 356 were found to have additional pathologic findings in the head and neck area. It was noted that the greater the dimension of the cleft, the greater the number of concomitant anomalies. However, the severity of the additional malformation could not be correlated to the severity of clefting. All additional pathologic findings were classified according to Pfeifer's morphogenetic classification of craniofacial anomalies. In cleft patients the region most often affected was found to be the lateral (and posterior) parts of the head. However, in unilateral clefts it was not possible to correlate the location of the cleft to the location of the concomitant malformation.