Associated Congenital Heart Anomalies in Children with Cleft Lip and Palate: A Cross Sectional Study

Background: Cleft lip and palate has a frequency of 1 per 700 live births, making it among the most prevalent orofacial congenital anomalies of the craniofacial region. Congenital heart disease is the most commonly associated disease with oral cleft. Hence, we have reviewed the association between heart disease and cleft lip and/or palate in the pediatric population. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, the patients with oral clefts referring to the hospitals affiliated with the Mashhad University of Medical Sciences during 2015 to 2016 were evaluated. Demographic, clinical, and echocardiographic data were collected and analyzed statistically. Results: One hundred twenty two patients with cleft lip and/or palate underwent echocardiography (49.2% males, 50.8% females). Based on Z-score outcomes, most of the patients with scores above zero had isolated cleft palate (63.6%). Patients with Z-scores of 0 to -1.3 and lower than -1.3 mostly had both cleft lip and palate (61.3%) or isolated cleft palate (55.5%), and these differences were significant (p=0.010). Furthermore, the frequency of the patients with Z-scores lower than zero was significantly higher in cleft lip and palate cases with congenital heart disease compared to non-congenital heart disease cases (43 vs. 19; p=0.002). The patients with pathologic symptoms in the physical examination were mainly diagnosed as abnormal based on their echocardiography (71.2%), and those without these symptoms were mainly diagnosed as normal based on their echocardiography (59.2%) with significant differences (p=0.001). Conclusions: No significant difference was observed regarding the distribution of different types of congenital heart disease between the different types of cleft lip and/or palate.