109 cases with the cleft palate operated primarily by the push-back method at our institute from March, 1973 to September, 1975 were investigated for speech condition.
The sufficient velopharyngeal function, slight hypernasality, and hypernasality were observed in 85 cases (78.0%), 20 cases (18.3%) and 4 cases (3.7%), respectively.
In view of cleft types, sufficient velopharyngeal functions were obtained in 29 out of 32 cases (90.6%) in the isolated cleft palate group, 39 out of 45 cases (86.7%) in the unilateral cleft lip and palate group, and 17 out of 32 cases (53.1%) in the bilateral cleft lip and palate group. Then, in a case of the submucous cleft palate, hypernasality wasn't observed.
Palatalized articulation accounted for 47 cases of the total 109 cases of abnormal articulation (43.1%), followed by glottal stops in 8 cases (7.3%) and nasal articulation in 4 cases (3.7%).
