Influence of palatal morphology on hearing in patients with unilateral cleft lip and palate - A multicenter pilot study

听力是儿童认知能力发展的重要因素。众所周知，听力受损在单侧唇腭裂患者中更为常见。这是由儿童经常发生的渗出性中耳炎引起的，这是由听觉管功能障碍引起的。目前认为，输卵管形态、输卵管的行程以及手术腭闭合的类型和时机对输卵管功能有最显著的影响。然而，对于没有唇腭裂的患者，已经证明，高而窄的腭形状是导致听觉功能障碍的原因，从而影响听力。腭裂患者的腭部形态与听力的关系尚未得到研究，因此，本初步研究的目的是探讨单侧唇腭裂患者腭部形态与听力损失发生的关系。由此产生的数据将主要用于计算临床干预研究的病例数，调查颌面部扩张措施对听力的影响。其次，从试点研究和后续研究的数据将被用来-识别风险因素，-能够对患者进行视觉风险分层，-得出正畸治疗的后果。

Hearing is an important factor in the development of a child's cognitive abilities. It is also known that impaired hearing is more common in patients with unilateral cleft lip and palate. This is caused by otitis with effusion that frequently occurs in children, which is caused by a dysfunction of the auditory tuba. It is currently assumed that the tube morphology, the course of the tube and the type and timing of the surgical palate closure have the most significant influence on tube function. For patients without cleft lip and palate, however, it has been proven that high and narrow palate shapes are the cause of disturbances in the function of the auditory tube and thus in hearing ability. The relationship between palatal morphology and hearing in cleft patients has not been investigated.It is therefore the aim of the pilot study to investigate the relationship between palatal morphology and the occurrence of hearing loss in patients with unilateral cleft lip and palate. The resulting data will be used primarily to calculate case numbers for a clinical intervention study, investigating the effects of maxillofacial dilation measures on hearing. Secondarily, the data from the pilot study and the follow-up study will be used to - to identify risk factors, - to be able to perform visual risk stratification on patients,- to derive consequences for orthodontic therapy.