Submucous cleft palate with a discontinuous bony deformity.

An unusual submucous palatal cleft is presented. In addition to the usual triad of bifid uvula, posterior bony notching, and diastasis of the velar musculature, there was a linear bony cleft involving only the maxillary component of the hard palate. The palatine bone was intact between the posterior notch and the maxillary cleft. A discontinuous palatal cleft is an extremely rare deformity and is interesting because existing theories of cleft pathogenesis do not readily explain such a defect.