PSYCHOLOGICAL PROBLEMS AND CLEFT LIP AND/OR PALATE

PROBLEMAS PSICOLÓGICOS Y FISURA DE LABIO Y/O PALADAR

PROBLEMAS PSICOLÓGICOS E FISSURAS LABIOPALATINAS

Marcos Roberto Tovani-Palone¹, Dipayan Datta ².

^{1- Ribeirão Preto Medical School, University of São Paulo, Ribeirão
Preto, SP, Brazil. Email de contacto:} ^{marcos_palone@hotmail.com}

^{2- Triveni Institute of Dental Sciences, Hospital and Research Centre,
Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh, India.}

Palabras clave: labio leporino; fisura del paladar; ajuste psicológico; lenguaje.

Palavras-chave: fissura labial; fissura palatina; ajustamento psicológico; linguagem.

Cleft lip and/or palate (CL/P) are the most common congenital craniofacial anomalies in humans. Multiple surgeries and other therapies are often required to effectively treat affected people ^1-3. We read with great interest the article entitled “Diagnóstico de fisura labio palatina en niños pequeños de Nicaragua: impacto del diagnóstico a nivel familiar”. What particularly impressed us about the article was the data on the main cause for concern of parents of children with CL/P, which in this case was the language of their children ⁴.

It is well known that children with CL/P are at risk for psychological problems ⁵. In this connection, we would like to briefly discuss the finding of the study of Ortega and Vázquez (2018) ⁴.

According to some researchers, having a medical and/or psychological condition in addition to the CL/P affects speech, language as well as reading. Therefore the occurrence of any of these problems may indicate psychological risk in children with CL/P ⁵. Thus, the data obtained from the study of Ortega and Vázquez (2018), which highlight the concern of parents about the language of their children ⁴, should be very relevant, since language changes in individuals with CL/P can have other associated disorders, such as psychological problems ⁵.

1. Tovani-Palone, M. R. (2018) Treatment of nonsyndromic cleft lip and/or palate in Brazil: existing consensus and legislation, scope of the Unified Health System, inconsistencies and future perspectives. World Health & Population, 17(4), doi:10.12927/whp.2018.25443. [Epub ahead of print].

2. Palone, M. R. T., Silva, T. R., Dalben, G. S. (2015) A bioengenharia tecidual em favor da reabilitação de indivíduos com fissura labiopalatina. Medicina (Ribeirão Preto), 48(2), 113-118.

3. Premkumar, S., Roopa@Kunthavai, C., Tovani-Palone, M. R. (2018) Clinical application of customized presurgical nasoalveolar molding for the treatment of unilateral complete cleft lip and alveolus: case report. Electronic Journal of General Medicine, 15(5), em76.

4. Ortega, J., Vázquez, N. (2018) Diagnóstico de fisura labio palatina en niños pequeños de Nicaragua: impacto del diagnóstico a nivel familiar. Revista de la Facultad de Ciencias Médicas, 75(4), 270-278.

5. Tovani-Palone, M. R. (2018) Psychological aspects in children with cleft lip and/or palate: a brief commentary on some relevant findings for health teams. Revista de Salud Pública, 22(3), 104-106.