Surgically treated congenital cleft palate in a 4-month-old kitten: medium-term clinical and CT assessment

Abstract

Case summary A 4-month-old female domestic shorthair kitten was presented for a congenital cleft palate causing nasal discharge and sneezing episodes. CT revealed a palatal bone defect involving 20% of the palatal area. Surgical correction of both the hard and soft palate defects was performed using the overlapping and medially positioned flap techniques, respectively. Complete healing of the wound and full resolution of the clinical signs occurred within a 1-month period. At 2 months postoperatively, two punctiform oronasal fistulae were observed rostrally without associated clinical signs. Control CT, performed 6 months postoperatively, revealed a 50% enlargement of the palatal bone defect. At 12 months postoperatively, the cat was still in good general condition without any clinical signs. Relevance and novel information To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report to describe the treatment of a congenital cleft palate in a kitten using the overlapping flap technique with a successful medium-term clinical outcome, despite the formation of two oronasal fistulae. This suggests that, as in dogs, full restoration of oronasal compartmentation is not mandatory to achieve functional outcome. The increase of the palatal bone defect over time may play a role in late oronasal fistulae formation and should be considered for surgical planning.

Exencephaly–Anencephaly Sequence Associated with Maxillary Brachygnathia, Spinal Defects, and Palatoschisis in a Male Domestic Cat

“…Its evolution is non-syndromic, or it can be syndromic with claw deformities, muscle weakness, and neurological signs. In cats, palatoschisis is not commonly described; only seven cases were reported prior to 2022 [30]. The palate malformation in animals presents a range of signs from a small pinhole cleft to a complete hard and palate deficit; in the kitten identified in this study, the cleft was complete.…”

“…Palatoschisis or cleft palate (CP) (OMIA 000197-9685), another malformation identified in our case, is a developmental defect of the palate resulting from a failure of the medial fusion of the palatine processes and manifesting as a separation of the hard or/and soft palate. It has been reported in cattle [27,28], dogs, especially brachycephalic breeds (4), horses [29], cats [30], wild animals (lion, jaguar, tiger) [31,32], and even spectacled flying foxes [33]. Among the human population, palatoschisis with or without cheiloschisis is the most commonly occurring craniofacial birth defect, with a variety of model organisms, such as mice and dogs, utilized to understand the development of orofacial clefts.…”