Prenatal management in clefts

Abstract

Cleft lip and palate is one of the most common craniofacial anomaly. The management of this entity has led to the development of the field of craniofacial surgery. Improvement in understanding of clefts and refinement in surgical techniques have improved the life of children with clefts. However, like with all congenital anomalies, the impulse is to look earlier. Fetal management of cleft lip and palate is an attractive avenue. In this paper we explore this less travelled road, to see the advances in the field of detection of cleft lip and palate in the fetus, and to see the current state of fetal surgery for cleft lip and palate.

Keywords

• anabasine
• cleft
• craniofacial
• fetal surgery
• fetal
• ultrasound