The craniofacial morphology of the parents of children with cleft lip and/or palate: a review of cephalometric studies.

OBJECTIVE: To review the cephalometric studies investigating the craniofacial morphology of the parents of children with cleft lip and/ or palate (CL(P)). METHODS: A review of the literature has been conducted using MedLine sources dated 1970-2005. The Cleft Palate-Craniofacial Journal has been searched manually. The reference lists of all previous publications were consulted to identify any publications, not already identified using the electronic search. RESULTS: 21 similar cephalometric studies investigating the parental craniofacial morphology in orofacial clefts were identified. CONCLUSIONS: The craniofacial morphology of the parents of children with cleft lip and/or palate CL(P) is different in comparison to the non- cleft population. There is a lack of consistency in study designs and results to accurately characterize the parents of children with CL(P). The craniofacial morphology of the parents of children with CL(P) differs from the parents of children with isolated cleft palate (CP), there is insufficient information to precisely localize these differences.