Characteristics of craniofacial structures of parents of children with cleft lip and/or palate.

We looked for possible differences in craniofacial morphology between parents of children with celft lip (CL) and/or cleft palate (CP) and normal controls. Fifty measurements were obtained from lateral and frontal roentgenographic cephalograms of these subjects. The means of all measurements were tested for significant statistical differences, and a discriminant analysis was carried out to distinguish the craniofacial structures in the experimental subjects from those in the controls. Facial shape of parents of children with CL and/or CP differed from that of control subjects. Shorter height and greater width in the upper face were the main characteristics of facial shape of parents of CL and/or CP children. Craniofacial morphology was considered to be related to susceptibility to these facial deformities.