Abstract

RINCON-GARCIA, Ángel Gabriel et al. Diagnóstico prenatal de las hendiduras labiopalatinas. Acta odontol. venez [online]. 2006, vol.44, n.3, pp.399-405. ISSN 0001-6365.

The purposes of this study are, on the one hand, to describe the sensibility and specificity of the different methods used in the diagnosis of cleft lip and palate; and on the other hand, to discuss the possibility that fetoscopy offers to achieve a precise description of cleft lip and palate, which is a wide clinical condition of face congenital malformation, produced by a defect in the face and maxillar buttons during the embryonic life. It was the first malformation diagnosticated by the ultrasound technique and it has been associated to major malformations and trisomies. Ultrasound techniques, two dimensions (2-D) or three dimensions (3-D), are capable of detecting this kind of malformation with high sensibility and specificity, specially 3-D ultrasound which allows an accurate and precise recognition of the real condition of the defect. Nowadays, fetoscopy is a new invasive procedure, that consists in the introduction of an optic instrument attached to a video camera through the abdominal wall of the pregnant women; therefore, it is capable of showing the real external anatomy of the fetus,  including the face and the lips. In conclusion, 2D and 3D ultrasound are easy, non invasive methods for the objective evaluation of the fetus. It gives information not only of the external anatomy but also a precise description of internal structures such as the palate. Because of its invasive nature, fetoscopy should be reserved only for fetal surgery and not for diagnosis.

Keywords : cleft lip and palate; prenatal diagnosis; ultrasound; fetoscopy.