Patterns of velopharyngeal closure in subjects with repaired cleft palate and normal speech: a multi-view videofluoroscopic analysis.

Thirty subjects with repaired palatal clefts and normal speech ranging in age from 2 to 12 years were examined in multiple videofluoroscopic projections in order to assess velopharyngeal closure in three dimensions. The following points became evident from the results of this study: 1. All 30 subjects exhibited contact between the superior border of the velum and the adenoid mass in the nasopharynx. Often, a sharp levator eminance was not formed due to the small space between the velum at rest and the adenoids. Thus, there was little room for the velum to elevate. 2. All 30 subjects showed good localized medial movement of the LAPW at the approximate plane of the hard palate. 3. 10 out of 30 subjects, 33%, had a Passavant's Ridge during speech. All 10 of these subjects utilized the ridge as a point of closure, as well as the adenoids. 4. The observed patterns of closure were consistent across varied consonant utterances. 5. The mechanism of velopharyngel closure in this group of subjects is essentially the same as for normal adult speakers and differs only anatomically due to a lack of verticle head growth in children. Thus, in spite of the presence of adenoids and the lack of verticle head development, the basic sphincteric mechanism of velopharyngeal colsure is utilized in these subjects.