Cleft lip and palate incidence among the live births in the Republic of Korea

We present an epidemiologic study of cleft lip and palate in the Republic of Korea from January 1, 1993 through December 31, 1993. In 1993, the number of total live births was 715,817. And from 1993 through 1995, a total of 1,293 new patients with cleft lip and palate who were born in 1993 were identified. The incidence of cleft lip and palate was 1.81 per 1000, that is, 1 per 554 live births. The cleft lip: cleft lip and palate: cleft palate alone ratio was 1.13:1:1.19. The male: female ratio was 2.1:1 in the cleft lip group, and 2.5:1 in the cleft lip and palate group. We could detect a male predominance in both groups. In contrast, the ratio was 0.95:1 in the cleft palate group. The left: right: bilateral ratio was 1.9:1:0.23 in cleft lip group, and the ratio was 2.2:1:1.1 in the cleft lip and palate group. This is the first nation-wide study to provide detailed data on the incidence of cleft lip and palate in the live births in the Republic of Korea.