The Cleft Lip and Palate Team
The Cleft Lip and Palate Team provides interdisciplinary medical expertise to families of children with congenital malformations (birth defects) involving the head and neck. Examples of these include:
- cleft lip and/or cleft palate
- Pierre-Robin sequence
- microtia
- microphthalmia
- craniosynostosis
- facial asymmetry
- other, rarer malformations
The Team also provides a consultation service for newborns with craniofacial differences. After your child's birth, several members of the Team (genetics, facial plastic reconstructive surgery, speech/feeding, lactation, and social work) meet with the family in the hospital. Subsequently, a meeting of all Team members is arranged to address your child's specific needs. Follow-up letters are sent to the family and your child's primary care provider.
The purpose of the Team is to provide services from the newborn period through early adulthood, including:
- initial diagnosis
- treatment including surgery and/or therapy
- maintenance of body systems
- psychosocial needs
- future reproductive needs
A team of craniofacial experts is the best means of providing acute medical/surgical management and long-term follow-up care. Our geneticists can provide both the immediate family and the extended family with information about the cause and recurrence risks for the patient's birth defect. Our Team meets quarterly to follow our patients on a regular basis.
For further information, contact Pat Williams at 443-849-6050.
