Abstract
The purpose of this study was to investigate the factors that affect the postoperative speech results in 22q11.2 delete syndrome. All patients were identified as having chromosome abnormality based on fluorescence in situ hybridization analysis.
In 25 patients, 9 children were submucous cleft palate (SMCP) and 16 were congenital velopharyngeal insufficiency (CVPI). All patients had velopharyngeal insufficiency(VPI)and had undergone pharyngeal flap operation at a mean age of 62 months.
Regarding VP closure, 19 patients showed improved VPI (normal VP group) and the other six patients did not show improved VPI (VPI group). Regarding speech results, nine were normal speech (normal speech group), and the other 16 were abnormal speech (abnormal speech group) in conversation.
The comparison points were as follows: average age of operation, IQ, presence of congenital heart diseases, amount of complications, monthly age of head control, monthly age of initial walking, monthly age of initial words, and ability to produce plosive sounds with nostril closure at pre-operation.
As a result, there was no significant difference in the average age of operation, both by VP group comparison and speech group comparison. Furthermore, there were no significant differences between the normal VP group and VPI group in other comparison points. On the other hand, there were significant differences between the normal speech group and abnormal speech group in the comparison points of IQ, head control, amount of complications and ability to produce plosive sounds with nostril closure at pre-operation. These results suggest that the prognosis of pharyngeal flap operation for these patients for VPI depends on IQ, age of head control, amount of complications, and ability to produce plosive sounds with nostril closure at pre-operation.
