Alpha-tocopherol levels in mothers of children with cleft lip or with cleft lip and palate

OBJECTIVES: Environmental factors may play equally critical role as genes in facial embryogenesis. It was suggested that cleft palate occurring in association with cleft lip may result from environmental factors that affect development of both the lip and the palate. Cleft lip forms from the third through seventh week of embryonic development. During these period fetal nutrition is histotrophic, pressure of oxygen is low, genes for antioxidant enzymes are supressed and alpha-tocopherol play an essential role in the fetal tissues antioxidant capacity. Cleft palate forms from the fifth through twelfth weeks of gestation, when hemonutrition and antioxidant enzymes are developing, and hypothetical deficiency of tocopherol is not so crucial. AIM: The goal of the study was to investigate concentrations of alpha-tocopherol in women who gave birth to a child with cleft lip and mothers of children with cleft lip and palate. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Blood samples from 31 healthy mothers of children with isolated cleft lip (CL) and 29 healthy mothers of children with isolated cleft lip and palate (CLP) were collected. Fasting plasma alpha-tocopherol concentrations were measured by the high performance liquid chromatography. Kolmologorov-Smirnov test with Lilefors correction and k-means cluster analysis were applied to determine differences between the groups of women. RESULTS: We found that alpha-tocopherol concentrations were lower in CL compared to CLP, but the difference did not achieve level of statistical significantly (medians: 15.8 micromol/L vs. 20.0 micromol/L; p = 0.066). There were identified three clusters of alpha-tocopherol concentrations: 14.0 micromol/L (19CL+8CLP), 19.6 micromol/L (8CL+13CLP), and 21.1 micromol/L (4CL+8CLP). The distribution of results to the clusters was dependent on type of the orofacial cleft (chi squared = 6.95 with 2 degrees of freedom, p = 0,031). CONCLUSIONS: Analysis for environmental risk factors should be performed separately for cleft lip and cleft lip and palate because these two conditions appear to be etiologically distinct. The role of a higher periconceptional intake of alpha-tocopherol in reduction of risk of giving birth to a child with cleft lip requires further research.     

胎儿期唇裂的诊断和治疗

文章概述了胎儿期唇腭裂的发生、相关因素、诊断和治疗。介绍了胎儿唇腭裂与染色体异常发生率的关系。随着产前诊断技术(超声、MR I等)的提高,越来越多的胎儿唇腭裂得到诊断。胎儿镜等技术促进了胎儿宫内治疗的发展,唇腭裂的宫内治疗亦是一个趋势,但目前大量的研究仍然是局限在动物模型。     

Evaluation of prenatal diagnosis of cleft lip with or without cleft palate and cleft palate by ultrasound: experience from 20 European registries. EUROSCAN study group

Ultrasound scans in the mid-trimester of pregnancy are now a routine part of antenatal care in most European countries. Using data from registries of congenital anomalies a study was undertaken in Europe. The objective of the study was to evaluate prenatal detection of cleft lip with or without cleft palate (CL(P)) and cleft palate (CP). All CL(P) and CPs suspected prenatally and identified at birth in the period 1996-98 were registered from 20 Congenital Malformation Registers from the following European countries: Austria, Croatia, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Lithuania, Spain, Switzerland, The Netherlands, UK, Ukraine. These registries followed the same methodology. A total of 709,027 births were covered; 7758 cases with congenital malformations were registered. Included in the study were 751 cases reported with facial clefts: 553 CL(P) and 198 CP. The prenatal diagnosis by transabdominal ultrasound of CL(P) was made in 65/366 cases with an isolated malformation, in 32/62 cases with chromosomal anomaly, in 30/89 cases with multiple malformations and in 21/36 syndromic cases. The prenatal diagnosis of CP was made in 13/198 cases. One hundred pregnancies were terminated (13%); in 97 of these the cleft was associated with other malformations.     

产前超声筛查胎儿唇裂和(或)腭裂及相关畸形

目的 评估产前超声对胎儿唇裂和(或)腭裂(简称唇腭裂)的检出率,以及合并的相关结构及染色体异常的发生情况. 方法 本研究为回顾性分析,纳入2006年1月至2010年12月在广州市妇女儿童医疗中心进行常规产前检查并分娩的单胎妊娠孕妇31 245例,于妊娠中期常规行胎儿超声筛查,发现唇腭裂的胎儿建议行染色体核型分析.所有活产新生儿及引产儿均进行口腔检查,以确诊唇腭裂,分析产前诊断的准确性. 结果 所有活产新生儿及引产儿共诊断唇腭裂48例,发生率为1.5‰(48/31 245),其中单纯唇裂占33.3％(16/48),唇裂合并腭裂占43.8％(21/48),单纯腭裂占22.9％(11/48).产前超声共发现18例单纯唇裂,其中14例与生后/引产后诊断完全相符,单纯唇裂产前超声诊断准确率为77.8％(14/18);3例分娩后发现新生儿同时合并腭裂,补充诊断为唇裂合并腭裂;1例产前超声诊断唇裂,因羊水过少引产,但引产儿无唇裂.产前超声检出18例唇裂合并腭裂,生后/引产后证实产前超声诊断均正确.2例胎儿产前超声检查正常,但新生儿检查发现单纯唇裂,均为Ⅰ度.产前超声未检出单纯腭裂,但新生儿生后诊断单纯腭裂11例.产前超声检出唇裂及唇裂合并腭裂的敏感性为86.5％(32/37),检出唇腭裂总的敏感性为66.7％(32/48),假阳性率为2.1％(1/48).产前超声诊断36例唇腭裂胎儿中10例(27.8％)合并其他结构畸形,与生后检查结果一致.产前检出18例唇裂合并腭裂胎儿中9例行染色体检查,其中 7例染色体异常.产前超声检出的36例唇腭裂胎儿中仅13例(12例单纯唇裂,1例唇裂合并腭裂)正常分娩,余23例孕妇均选择引产. 结论 产前超声筛查单纯唇裂及唇裂合并腭裂敏感性高,但难以检出单纯腭裂.单纯唇裂合并染色体异常概率低,而一旦合并腭裂,合并染色体异常及其他结构异常的风险增高.     

Myo-inositol, glucose and zinc status as risk factors for non-syndromic cleft lip with or without cleft palate in offspring: a case-control study

OBJECTIVE: To investigate myo-inositol, glucose and zinc status in mothers and their infants on cleft lip with or without cleft palate risk (CLP). DESIGN: Case-control study. SETTING: University Medical Centre Nijmegen, the Netherlands. POPULATION: Eighty-four mothers and their CLP child and 102 mothers and their healthy child. METHODS: Venous blood samples were obtained to determine serum myo-inositol and glucose and red blood cell zinc concentrations in mothers and children. Geometric means were calculated and compared between the groups. The blood parameters were dichotomised with cutoff points based on control values, P90 for glucose concentrations. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Geometric means (P5-P95) and odds ratios (95% confidence intervals). RESULTS: The CLP children (P= 0.003) and their mothers (P= 0.02) had significantly lower red blood cell zinc concentrations than controls. A low maternal serum myo-inositol concentration (<13.5 micromol/L) and a low red blood cell zinc concentration (<189 micromol/L) increased CLP risk [odds ratio 3.0 (95% CI 1.2-7.4) and 2.0 (95% CI 0.8-4.8), respectively]. Children with low myo-inositol (<21.5 micromol/L ) or low red blood cell zinc concentrations (<118 micromol/L) were more likely to have CLP [odds ratio 3.4 (95% CI 1.3-8.6) and 3.3 (95% CI 1.3-8.0), respectively]. Glucose was not a risk factor for CLP in mothers and children. Maternal and child myo-inositol as well as zinc concentrations were slightly, albeit significantly correlated, r(Pearson)= 0.33 (P= 0.0006) and r(Pearson)= 0.23 (P= 0.01), respectively. CONCLUSION: This study demonstrates for the first time that zinc and myo-inositol are important in the aetiology of CLP.     

Anencephalic conjoined twins with mirror-image cleft lip and palate

This is a case presentation of a conjoined twin (cephalothoracopagus) pregnancy with anencaphaly and mirror-image cleft lip and palate, affecting the left side of one twin and the right side of the other twin. The pregnancy was terminated at 26 weeks. The case is discussed with information in the literature.     

Factors determining occurrence of cleft lip and cleft palate.

The modern care of newborn infants with oral clefts renders their survival possible. Since they will eventually reproduce, a slight increase in the incidence may be expected and genetic counseling will be requested on occasion. The cleft lip with or without cleft palate has a different genetic inclination from isolated cleft palate and the risk of recurrence is different. Drugs, such as antiepileptics, salicylates, benzodiazepines and cortisone, have a role in causing oral clefts. When an oral cleft is a part of a syndrome, the genetics of the particular syndrome must be outlined and genetic counseling is given accordingly. Oral clefts alone are usually multifactorial.     

Genetic counselling and genetics of cleft lip and cleft palate.

Modern neonatal care and advanced plastic surgical correction have led to the survival of most newborns with oral clefts. These children are likely to reproduce. A slight increase in the incidence of oral clefts may be expected in the future. The genetics of cleft lip and cleft palate is reviewed. The inheritance is usually multifactorial. With normal parents the risk of having a first affected child with cleft lip is about one per thousand, the risk of having a second affected child 4 per cent and the risk of having a third affected child 10 per cent. If a parent has already a cleft lip, the risk of having a first affected child now is 4 per cent, while the risk of having a second affected child is 10 per cent. The methodology of genetic counseling is given.     

Prenatal diagnosis of an 8q22.2-q23.3 deletion associated with bilateral cleft lip and palate and intrauterine growth restriction on fetal ultrasound

Objective

We present prenatal diagnosis of an interstitial 8q22.2-q23.3 deletion associated with bilateral cleft lip and palate and intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) on fetal ultrasound.

Bilateral cleft lip and palate, hypertelorism and hypoplastic toes

We report on a 23-month-old boy with bilateral cleft lip and palate, marked hypertelorism, frontal bossing and severe bilateral, asymmetric hypoplasia of toes. The mother used bisoprolol, naproxen and sumatriptan for migraine until the fifth postmenstrual week of pregnancy. We suggest that this patient's features represent a previously undescribed entity of as yet unknown aetiology.     

Discordant anencephaly with a cleft lip and palate in a pergonal-induced triplet pregnancy.

Anencephaly in triplets and pergonal induced pregnancies is a very rare incident. Associated cleft lip and palate has never been reported in these case. In this paper we report the first case of an anencephalic infant with cleft lip and palate in a set of pergonal-induced discordant triplet pregnancy.     

Bilateral cleft lip and palate associated with increased nuchal translucency and maternal cocaine abuse at 14 weeks of gestation

A case of bilateral cleft lip and palate associated with increased fetal nuchal translucency detected at 14 weeks of gestation in a cocaine abusing pregnant woman is presented. There were no other associated structural or chromosomal abnormalities. We propose that systematic examination in both the sagittal and parasagittal plane of the fetal profile and recognition of the characteristic ultrasound appearance of a premaxillary protruding echogenic mass should make detection of this type of cleft relatively easy at the moment of the first trimester scan. First trimester diagnosis of cleft lip and palate can facilitate the parental decision-making process on continuing or terminating the pregnancy and should open the perspective of fetal surgery.     

Cigarette smoking as an etiologic factor in cleft lip and palate.

A case-control study has been made on smoking habits in women who, during 1975, gave birth to infants with closure defects of the central nervous system (ASB) or with cleft lip or cleft palate (CLP). For each case, two control subjects with nonmalformed infants were selected and matched for delivery unit, time of delivery, maternal age, and maternal parity. Smoking habits were routinely included in hospital records at first visit to a maternity health clinic during pregnancy. Data were studied for 66 cases of CLP, 66 cases of ASB, and 261 control subjects. Significantly more women who had infants with CLP smoked than did control women, but women with ASB infants showed a normal smoking pattern. Drug use did not explain the findings. It is suggested that maternal smoking is one of many factors of importance in the etiology of cleft lip and cleft palate in humans.     

Complete trisomy 9 with unusual phenotypic associations: Dandy-Walker malformation,cleft lip and cleft palate,cardiovascular abnormalities

ObjectiveTrisomy 9 is a rare chromosomal abnormality usually associated with first-trimester miscarriage; few fetuses survive until the second trimester. We report two new cases of complete trisomy 9 that both present unusual phenotypic associations, and we analyze the genetic pathway involved in this chromosomal abnormality.Case reportThe first fetus investigated showed Dandy-Walker malformation, cleft lip, and cleft palate) at the second trimester scan. Cardiovascular abnormalities were characterized by a right-sided, U-shaped aortic arch associated with a ventricular septal defect (VSD). Symmetrical intrauterine growth restriction and multicystic dysplastic kidney disease were associated findings. The second fetus showed a dysmorphic face, bilateral cleft lip, hypoplastic corpus callosum, and a Dandy-Walker malformation. Postmortem examination revealed cardiovascular abnormalities such as persistent left superior vena cava draining into the coronary sinus, membranous ventricular septal defect, overriding aorta, pulmonary valve with two cusps and three sinuses, and the origin of the left subclavian artery distal to the junction of ductus arteriosus and aortic arch.ConclusionComplete trisomy 9 may result in a wide spectrum of congenital abnormalities, and the presented case series contributes further details on the phenotype of this rare aneuploidy.