Spheno-occipital synchondrosis in three-month-old children with clefts of the lip and palate: a radiographic study.

The literature has been focused on differences in craniofacial form and dimension in cleft lip and palate patients. No attention has been given to possible alterations in the spheno-occipital synchondrosis although the synchondrosis is regarded as an important maturity and growth center. The purpose of the present investigation was to examine if the spheno-occipital synchondrosis in children born with major complete clefts differs on lateral radiographs from that of children born with minor incomplete clefts. Fifty-seven three-month-old children with complete clefts of the lip, alveolus and palate and 42 three-month-old children with minor incomplete clefts of the lip were included in the study. The results of the comparison showed that children with complete major clefts had a broader spheno-occipital synchondrosis compared to children with a minor incomplete cleft of the lip, and that the distance from the superior part of the synchondrosis to the sella point was shorter in children with complete clefts. These findings could be related to a defect or a delay in maturity in the early development of the cartilaginous cranial base in children with major clefts.