“…Eustachian tube dysfunction and impaired active dilatation has been found in 100 percent of the cleft palate patients who have not undergone operation. 9 The benefits of palatal muscle reconstruction in cleft palate patients can be assessed in several ways, including improvement in eustachian tube function and speech, the number of patients requiring further surgery (i.e., pharyngoplasty), and the morbidity of surgery, both primary (i.e., palatal repair) and secondary (i.e., pharyngoplasty). 9 Although the mean age in our study was 22.5 months, which was equal to the current usual practice, 18,19 we think that an earlier age at surgery could yield greater functional improvement with intravelar veloplasty.…”