Birth weight of newborns with orofacial clefts

Orofacial clefts are frequent congenital anomalies. A combination of genetic and environmental factors contributes to their formation. Orofacial clefts together with growth retardation belong among the indicators of embryo toxicity. This thesis is focused on the potential relationship between birth weight and orofacial clefts of newborns born in Czech Republic. The non-syndromic cleft lip, cleft lip and palate, isolated cleft palate and patients with Pierre-Robin sequence are discussed here. Evaluation of the relationship between the birth weight and orofacial clefts was performed on the base of statistical analysis. The differences were tested in children with different types of orofacial clefts and in cleft patients compared to healthy control. Statistical analysis of variance demonstrated that the type and severity of the cleft (unilateral/ bilateral) does not affect birth weight of newborns with orofacial clefts. Newborns with non-syndromic clefts had reduced birth weight in comparison to healthy controls. Cleft patients with Pierre-Robin sequence (syndromic form of cleft) did not differ in birth weight from healthy children. To verify the results obtained in patients with orofacial clefts that the birth weight is lower in these patients compared to control, two experiments on a chicken model..