The information contained within the Grand Rounds Archive is intended for use by doctors and other health care professionals. These documents were prepared by resident physicians for presentation and discussion at a conference held at The Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas. No guarantees are made with respect to accuracy or timeliness of this material.
Dysfunction occurs in palatal, posterior pharyngeal wall and lateral pharyngeal wall musculature.
Affected children compensate for the loss of velopharyngeal port closure by positioning the tongue posteriorly in the oropharynx. These children also have hypernasal speech and cannot form fricatives. Six muscles function to close the velopharyngeal port. The palatopharyngeus, palatoglossus, levator veli palatini, tensor veli palatini, and musculus uvulae make up the muscular palate. In the cleft palate patient incomplete fusion occurs at the palatal aponeurosis preventing the union of the muscular mass required for secondary palatal formation and function.