Harelip

Harelip
Cleft lip is an anomaly of the congenital type, in which a person has a violation of the anatomical integrity of tissues, manifested in the form of a cleft lip.

The content of the article:
Causes of cleft lip development
Classification of cheiloschisis (cleft lip)
Manifestations of harelip
Principles of treatment of cleft lip
Ways to correct a cleft lip
Harelip
In medicine, a hare defect is a fairly rare pathology that is diagnosed in less than 1% of newborns. The formation occurs in the first trimester of pregnancy, at the moment when the fetus begins to lay the organs of the face and jaw. A cleft lip is diagnosed immediately after birth, for this purpose a visual examination is performed.

Pathology can have a different appearance and location. Most often there is a one-sided cleft lip, but it can also be bilateral, while the cleft can be through or isolated.

Pathology is not only a cosmetic defect, but also has a negative impact on the development of certain physiological abilities. As long as the child is in infancy, the defect does not cause mental disorders, but significantly complicates the process of natural breastfeeding. During the period when the child begins to pronounce the first sounds, because of the cleft lip, they become unnatural, in the future, the hare lip significantly worsens the speech function, food intake becomes more complicated, and there is also a violation of the formation of the dental system. Dental pathologies developing against the background of a hare defect manifest themselves in the form of a violation of the formation of dentition: they grow in the wrong direction, and in some areas of the jaw may be completely absent or grow in excess. If the parents did not take care of the treatment of cleft lip in a timely manner, then the child may develop carious disease at an early age.

If we talk about violations of the speech function, then with an unresolved defect of the hare lip, a person’s speech becomes indistinct, consonant sounds are pronounced with difficulty, and the voice is nasal.

Considering all the problems that a child with a cleft lip defect may face, it is necessary to eliminate it, and the sooner the better. Plastic surgery will help to do this.

Causes of cleft lip development
The main reason for the formation of a hare defect is severe infectious or viral diseases suffered by a pregnant woman. It is especially dangerous when diseases occur in the first three months of carrying a child.

In addition to viral infections, any complication that occurs during any of the periods of pregnancy can lead to a delay in intrauterine development, which can cause the formation of a hare defect. Also, sexually transmitted diseases, the presence of chronic pathologies in the mother and some medications are the cause of the defect formation.

According to the research of scientists, it has been established that harelip is the cause of mutation of the TVX-22 gene, which may occur due to the following factors:

genetic predisposition — if there have ever been cases of birth defects in the mother’s or father’s family, then the risk of pathology formation in the child increases by 7%;
a bad habit of the mother in the form of smoking during pregnancy increases the probability of defect formation by 6 times;
harelip is formed in most cases in those children whose mothers abuse alcohol and narcotic substances;
taking medications that are contraindicated during pregnancy, for example, antibiotics or hormonal substances;
severe stress suffered;
pregnancy later than 35 years.
Often the reason for the formation of a hare defect in newborns is the environment in which the pregnancy period took place. So if the child was carried where the concentration of harmful chemical and biological substances is high, the probability of developing an anomaly is 25%.

Classification of cheiloschisis (cleft lip)
Pathology, which has the form of a hare defect, is classified in medicine on the basis of its localization. Thus, pathology can be from two sides or from one side. If a child is diagnosed with a unilateral cleft lip, then often its integrity is violated on the left side, and the dissection extends deep into.

The bilateral cleft lip has the appearance of a deep furrow located on the right and left sides of the nasolabial fold. The depth of the incision can reach the nose or be even deeper.

In some cases, an isolated hare defect occurs, while it is part of other anatomical violations of the integrity of the palate and lip (for example, this is a change in the structure of the nose, a defect of the hard or soft palate).

Also, the harelip is classified as full or partial. In the first case, the dissection of the lip tissue continues to the nose, in the second — the cleft has the appearance of a small depression.

The cleft lip can be located on the upper or lower lip, but most often affects the upper lip, while it is quite rare on both lips.

The classification also takes into account the severity of the defect. With a mild degree, there is a violation of the integrity of soft tissues, with a severe degree — the bones of the upper jaw and palate.

The classification of the defect is necessary so that the doctor can assess the severity of the defect and determine the presence of concomitant anomalies, as well as select the necessary treatment plan, which is developed individually for each clinical case.

Manifestations of harelip
Pathology is diagnosed immediately after the birth of the baby. During the visual examination, the doctor draws attention to the fact that the child has a deep furrow on the right, left side, in rare cases — on both sides. The location of the defect on the upper, less often — the lower jaw. The existing furrow indicates a violation of the anatomical integrity of this area. Depending on the depth of the split lip, the gum, palate or nasal cavity may be visible through it. Due to the fact that the cleft on the lip significantly complicates the process of breastfeeding, and, given the degree of complexity of the defect, the doctor may decide to transfer the child to feeding by nasal probing.

If the cleft lip defect was not eliminated in infancy, then from the moment of teething, the child may have a violation of the formation of the dentition and the initial stages of the formation of an abnormal bite can be viewed. In the complex, all these pathologies complicate life by not allowing you to chew food thoroughly, the function of swallowing is disrupted.

In the absence of the necessary treatment and in the process of teething, the child has an insufficient or excessive amount of them. Pathologies of the dental system should be eliminated by orthodontic treatment.

In terms of psychological manifestation, the hare defect negatively affects the child’s self-esteem, significantly lowering its level, which is associated with his awareness of his inferiority, dissimilarity with other children.

The hare lip affects the function of speech by its violation, consonant sounds are pronounced incorrectly.

Principles of treatment of cleft lip
To eliminate the hare defect, the child needs at least one surgical intervention, in difficult situations several operations may be required. The pathology of development is eliminated by a plastic surgeon by the method of reconstruction. Plastic surgeries of this type are shown to children who were born in due time and have no contraindications to surgery (for example, malformations of internal organs, injuries during childbirth, chronic and acquired diseases, etc.).

Often, the operation is scheduled for 3-6 months of age of the child. In plastic surgery, the intervention is called cheiloplasty. In the case when the cleft lip is severe, in order to facilitate the life of the child, the operation can be performed in the first days after his birth, however, such an intervention is carried out only on condition that the baby normally gains weight, he has no disorders of the nervous, endocrine and cardiac systems of the body.

If cheiloplasty was performed in the first 14 days of life, the result is the elimination of the defect and the possibility of further normal formation of the nose and lip. Also, early plastic surgery will help the child and parents to avoid mental disorders. The disadvantage of early surgery is that the baby’s lips are too small, which may not allow the defect to be eliminated in full, and such a procedure is also associated with the risk of losing a large amount of blood.

During plastic correction, the anatomical integrity of the affected area is restored in the patient, palatal deformities and pathologies of the structure of nasal cartilage are eliminated. After surgery, the maxillofacial system continues its normal formation.

The whole process of eliminating the hare defect is quite lengthy, but it must be completed by the time the child turns 3-4 years old. During this period, the child’s speech function is formed, if the treatment has not been completed, then consultation and treatment with a speech therapist will be required.

Also, after plastic surgery to eliminate the defect, a noticeable scar remains, which is a cosmetic defect, but can affect the emotional state of the child, therefore, it is recommended to perform operations to remove scars.

Ways to correct a cleft lip
The cleft lip defect is completely eliminated according to the following plan of major surgical interventions and additional treatment.

Performing primary cheiloplasty — eliminates the cosmetic defect and restores the damaged integrity.
Primary rhinocheiloplasty is performed when it is necessary to correct a cleft lip defect associated with an abnormal location of the cartilage of the nose and muscles of the mouth area.
Rhinocheilognathoplasty — solves the problems of lip integrity, eliminates deformities of the cartilage of the nose, allows you to form a muscular framework in the mouth area. Technically, a very complex operation is performed only in the absence of severe deformities of the nose, lip and facial skeleton.
Speech therapy treatment is necessary to restore speech function.
Cosmetic plastic surgery — used to eliminate residual defects of treatment.
The result of the performed operations can be estimated after 12 months.

Post Views: 5,064

Sensitive skin

Cellulite

Skinny shins and thighs

445 COMMENTS

LEAVE A REPLY Cancel reply

Most Popular

WHO: 1 billion people in the world are served by medical institutions without reliable power supply

Gastritis symptoms and what is it

Diarrhea

Rectal prolapse

Recent Comments