Distribution of lip and/or palate clefts types among children form Lodz during years 1981-2015.

INTRODUCTION: Cleft lip and/or palate are the most common face malformations. Clinical picture of these anomalies is very variable. Cleft can include only lip and/or alveolus, palate or all of these structures can be clefted.

AIM: The aim of this paper is to present all particular types of clefts, their relationship to sex and body side in the group of children from Lodz during the years 1981-2015.

MATERIAL AND METHOD: The study group included 434 patients with facial clefts (218 males and 216 females) in the age between 4 weeks to 18 years.

RESULTS: In the analyzed group there were 181 palate clefts (41.7%), 156 lip and palate clefts (36%) and 97 lip clefts (22.3%). Detailed analysis of clefts types showed that isolated palate clefts are definitely more frequent in females than males (112 vs 69), while lip and palate clefts in boys than girls (96 vs. 60).

CONCLUSIONS: During 35 years in children form Lodz the most common type of anomaly were palate clefts, followed by lip and palate clefts and the less frequent were lip clefts. Palate clefts are more common in girls, while lip and palate clefts in boys. Left-sided clefts are two times more common than right clefts.