Velopharyngeal insufficiency starting at puberty without adenoidectomy.

At the Cleft Palate Unit of The Montreal Children's Hospital a number of patients are seen each year who developed velopharyngeal insufficiency after adenoidectomy. Each time one of these patients is seen, the question is asked: "What would have happened to the speech if adenoidectomy had not been done, and the adenoid had been allowed to undergo the normal process of atrophy at puberty?" We had not seen a patient develop velopharyngeal insufficiency at puberty without adenoidectomy until recently, when an 11.5-year-old boy presented with a history of hypernasality for 1.5 years. Physical examination revealed the soft palate to be slightly short but with good mobility. The voice was mildly hypernasal but there was no nasal escape. Radiologic investigation revealed a very deep nasopharynx with virtual absence of adenoid tissue and a slight shortness of the palate. The child had been on speech therapy and the recommendation was that the therapy be stopped. When the child was seen 2.5 months after cessation of speech therapy, the hypernasality had cleared completely. Speech Pathologists at other Cleft Palate Units were contacted and no similar cases were known. The literature also did not reveal any similar cases of velopharyngeal insufficiency developing after puberty in the absence of adenoidectomy and without a cleft palate.