Congenital healed cleft lip

Am J Med Genet. 1995 Aug 28;58(2):106-12. doi: 10.1002/ajmg.1320580203.

Abstract

Congenital "healed" cleft lip (CHCL) is an unusual anomaly including a paramedian "scar" of the upper lip, which appears as if a typical cleft lip has been corrected in utero. The CHCL is frequently associated with an ipsilateral notch in the vermilion, and "collapsed" nostril. Twenty-five CHCL cases are presented, eighteen of which were an isolated malformation found among the 3,950,715 births examined in two similar birth defect registries: ECEMC in Spain and ECLAMC in Latin America. Like open cleft lip, of which it seems to be a variant, CHCL is most frequently seen among males (14/18 isolated cases), it preferentially affects the left side (10/18 cases), and it segregated together with cleft lip in one family. The five CHCL cases with other congenital anomalies included: two cases with hydrocephalus, two VACTERL associations, and one atypical oblique facial cleft infant with single umbilical artery. CHCL may result from a defective fusion of the frontonasal and maxillary processes (before week 7 of embryonic life), or from a spontaneously repaired open cleft lip, later on. In either way, these cases heal with a visible scar, and the pre-occurrence of CHCL in two families suggests a familial predisposition to this phenomenon.

Publication types

  • Case Reports
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Case-Control Studies
  • Cicatrix / epidemiology
  • Cicatrix / genetics*
  • Cleft Lip / epidemiology*
  • Cleft Lip / genetics*
  • Cleft Palate / epidemiology
  • Cleft Palate / genetics
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Infant, Newborn
  • Male
  • Pregnancy
  • Prevalence