Two-stage cleft palate closure by our treatment algorithm in complete unilateral cleft lip and palate: Results of velopharyngeal function

It has been reported that two-stage palatoplasty is excellent in terms of maxillary growth but poor in terms of speech outcomes. We modified the two-stage Zurich approach in two aspects. First, the speech plate is placed immediately after soft palatoplasty using Perko’s technique to prevent air leakage through the nose in all cases. The other is that simultaneous closure of the alveolar and hard palate cleft with bone grafting is delayed until age ≥8 years to allow maxillary growth. In this paper we report on postoperative velopharyngeal function and role of the speech plate.