Magnetic Resonance Imaging of Cleft Palate

Abstract

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the nasopharynx and the eustachian tube was performed in five patients with cleft palate and compared with the results of those without this anomaly. Various degrees of deformity of the eustachian tube cartilage were found in cleft palate patients. The levator veli palatini muscles were situated more laterally in cleft palate patients than in normal subjects. Also, changes in the position of these muscles after palatoplasty were clearly depicted by MRI. Besides several autopsy reports, this is the first demonstration of the characteristic anomaly around the eustachian tube by a non-invasive method.