Craniofacial morphology in parents of cleft children and healthy individuals.

Craniofacial morphology with respect to orofacial clefts has been widely studied. Objective of this study was to determine distinct craniofacial parameters in parents who have cleft children. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Craniofacial anthropometric measurements (total) have been studied in 57 cleft fathers, 67 cleft mothers, 39 control males, and 38 control females. All parameters were compared between cleft parents and control (for males and females separately). RESULTS: Statistical analysis showed significant differences (p<0.05) between the cleft parents and the controls for 18 measurements characterizing head, face, orbital, nasal, and oral region. CONCLUSIONS: Results of this study suggest that craniofacial morphology in parents of children with clefts is distinctive from that observed in healthy individuals in Latvia population. Such data could be used in evaluation persons at risk for having cleft child, and also to define an anthropometric evaluation system for parents who have cleft children. Grant: Taiwan-Baltic joint research project "Identification of Genes Involved in Craniofacial Morphogenesis and Susceptibility to Orofacial Clefting in Human Genome Scan".