Objectives: Cleft lip with or without cleft palate, is the most common serious congenital anomaly that affects the orofacial
regions. The management and care of the cleft patient constitutes a substantial proportion of the workload of the Nigerian
maxillofacial surgeon and allied specialties. Yet, there are no specific programmes targeted at this group. We believe that the
findings of this study is capable of identifying useful interventions for designing programs that will lead to a reduction in
the burden of orofacial cleft in Nigeria.
Methods: It was a transverse cross-sectional study that was undertaken at the Maxillofacial Units of the University of Benin
Teaching Hospital and the Central Hospital, Benin City respectively. The prevalence and antenatal determinants of cleft lip
and palate were determined.
Results: Cleft lip and palate were often encountered in clinical practice in Benin City with a prevalence of 1.35%. The results
showed that orofacial clefts were commoner in females and that the combined unilateral cleft lip and palate was the
commonest entity encountered amongst the cases. The following risk factors were associated with the risk of development
of cleft lip and palate: Paternal age >40years, maternal age >35years, genetic/family history, low socio-economic status,
alcohol consumption and indulgence in the intake of herbal medications in pregnancy.
Conclusion: Public health education programmes and advocacy activities geared towards raising awareness of the identified
risk factors for the development of cleft lip and or cleft palate would go a long way to obviate the occurrence and reduce the
burden.
