Incidence of cleft lip and palate in the northeast of Mexico: a 10-year study.

In Latin American countries, studies on the incidence of cleft lip and palate are not widely available. A 10-year retrospective study was carried out to determine the incidence of cleft lip and palate at the Autonomous University of Nuevo Leon's University Hospital. The study included data from patients who attended the plastic surgery outpatient clinic from January 1990 to December 1999. The author reviewed 10,843 files from which 376 patients were selected to identify the following variables: time of the year in which the first consultation took place, gender, birthplace, type of cleft, age of both parents, and medications taken during pregnancy. The highest incidence was found in patients aged 1 to 6 months. Ninety-four patients had a primary palate cleft; 76 had a secondary palate cleft; and 206 had primary and secondary palate clefts. The gender distribution of the 206 patients with primary and secondary clefts was 127 boys and 79 girls. The mean parent age was 29.5 years (father) and 25.7 years (mother). The incidence of cleft lip and palate in the cited hospital was 1.1:1000 births. Clefts of the left side occurred more often than of the right. Boys were affected more commonly than girls.