[New aspects of causal therapy of hearing and speech development disorders caused by cleft palate].

Seromucous effusions were found in the tympanum in 91% of 208 cases of cleft palate. The incidence of recurrent mucosal effusions after paracentesis alone, in addition to drainage of the middle ear and poor speech results after veloplasty alone (according to Schweckendieck), led to the realization that hearing and speech disturbances in patients with cleft palates must be treated with a combination of morphologically correct veloplasty and tympanic drainage. Taking into consideration the fact that the auditory canal reaches maturation at the end of the first year of life, this procedure should be performed before the patient is 12 months old.