This special edition contains nine articles covering various aspects of cleft lip and palate. It’s a rich contribution from several specialties that highlights the collaborative nature of the management of the disease. From this, one can conclude that research in cleft lip and palate is rapidly evolving in our sub-region. There is an unusual insertion of crossword and diagrammatic puzzles designed to ease the tension of learning.
The first article: Antenatal events amongst mothers of babies with orofacial clefts was an observational cross- sectional study using questionnaires. This came up with the finding of the use of certain medications in pregnancy amongst 72 mothers. There was an interesting finding of herbal medication in about 20% of them. However no antenatal predisposing factors were are identified. Because the mean age of mothers in the series was about 35 years, the authors indicated that the role of advanced parental age on the prevalence of congenital anomaly was not consistent in literature.
This aspect therefore requires further investigation. The second paper is an interesting electronic search bordering on systematic review through PubMed and Google Scholar on the subject of Hemifacial Microsomia (HM). This literature review on the second most common craniofacial birth defect is pertinent here. The author described methods of classification of HM and came up with Vento and associates’ proposed classification called by the acronym OMENS which mirrors UICC and TNM systems of classification of cancers. They also discussed that the new classifications of HM deformities failed to galvanize broad acceptability since its introduction about 20 years ago. This is the kind of vagary that occurs when several classification methods are brought to view. The popularity of such methods of classification depends on the acceptability and the way such can be applied to day-to-day use in clinical practice.
There was only one case report. This was on a missed diagnosis of an isolated transverse facial cleft presenting as a delayed case due not to the caregivers but to Healthcare workers failure to diagnose. Repair of such anomaly is usually gratifying of course made a lot of difference in the psyche of the patient concerned.