The second criteria is that the people with clefts be nonsyndromic . This means that we study people who do not have clefting in conjunction with another birth defect. The non-random occurrence of more than one symptom or birth defect is called a syndrome . Our main study is on non-syndromic clefts. These are just a few examples.
Many syndromes are even harder to recognize.
Many people who have a syndrome do not realize it. The geneticists who are collaborating with us are experts in recognizing some of the subtle features which may suggest a syndrome. The family must be seen in person by a medical geneticist to rule out a syndrome. Currently no funding is available to reimburse for expenses involved in traveling to see these geneticists. If a syndrome is suspected a decision will be made about including the family in the study.