Clinical study of otological manifestations in cases of cleft palate.

Cleft palate (with or without cleft lip) occurs in about 1: 750-1: 2000 births in different societies in the world. Cleft palate individuals have a greater incidence of hearing loss than the general population. The primary cause of the ear problem in cleft patients is eustachian tube dysfunction. The cause for which is abnormal insertion of levator veli palatini and tensor veli palatini muscles into the posterior margin of the hard palate and the palatal aponeurosis and associated muscular hypoplasia.