Growth trajectories in children with cleft lip and/or palate.
INTRODUCTION
the nutritional status and growth of children with cleft lip and/or palate (CL/P) can be affected due to feeding difficulties caused by their anatomy and the surgical interventions.


OBJECTIVE
this retrospective longitudinal study aims to analyse the growth trajectories of a cohort of children with CL/P and compare them with a healthy representative cohort of children from Aragon (Spain).


METHODS
type of cleft, surgical technique and sequelae, and weight, length/height and body mass index (BMI) (weight/height2) at different ages (0-6 years) were recorded. Normalized age- and sex-specific anthropometric Z-scores values were calculated by World Health Organization (WHO) charts.


RESULTS
forty-one patients (21 male, 20 female) were finally included: 9.75 % cleft lip (n = 4/41), 41.46 % cleft palate (n = 17/41) and 48.78 % cleft lip and palate (n = 20/41). The worst nutritional status Z-scores were achieved at the age of three months (44.44 % and 50 % had a weight and a BMI lower than -1 Z-score, respectively). Mean weight and BMI Z-scores were both significantly lower than controls at one, three and six months of age, recovering from that moment until the age of one year.


CONCLUSIONS
the highest nutritional risk in CL/P patients takes place at 3-6 months of age, but nutritional status and growth trajectories get recovered from one year of age compared to their counterparts. Nevertheless, the rate of thin subjects among CL/P patients is higher during childhood.