The Correction of Velopharyngeal Insufficiency by Furlow Palatoplasty in Patients Older than 3 Years Undergoing Veau-Wardill-Kilner Palatoplasty: A Prospective Clinical Study

Abstract

The results suggest that Furlow palatoplasty performed in later years improves not only speech but also velopharyngeal closure by reorienting the levator veli palatini muscle and augmenting the velum.

Prospective Evaluation of the Outcome of Velopharyngeal Insufficiency Therapy after Simultaneous Double Z-Plasty and Sphincter Pharyngoplasty

“…Double Z-plasty lengthens the soft palate and improves its function. A complete recovery or improvement was achieved in 56-97% of patients [33,[45][46][47][48][49] .…”

Use of a modified Furlow Z-plasty as a secondary cleft palate repair procedure to reduce velopharyngeal insufficiency

“…[4][5][6] VPI can significantly affect the quality and intelligibility of the child's speech, and as a consequence, affect communication. [7][8][9] Because hypernasality is a characteristic feature of VPI, measuring nasalance pre-and postoperatively is an appropriate method to evaluate the effectiveness of surgical treatment of VPI.…”

“…[3][4][5] A variety of treatment options have been described for VPI, including secondary velar palatoplasty. [6][7][8][9] The Furlow double-opposing Z-plasty technique was initially described in 1978 for primary repair of a cleft palate. 10 In recent years, it has been used as a secondary procedure to treat post-palatoplasty VPI.…”

Furlow's Palatoplasty for Cleft Palate Repair

“…The rate of fistulae formation is less than in other procedures [6,[13][14][15].Palatal competence is better and rates of VPI were much less in all studies reported [6,7,[9][10][11][12][13][14]. It has also been offered as a surgery for VPI [12,20]. Large raw areas of the hard palate are not left exposed as in VKW procedures, scar formation and maxillary retrusion are minimal [6,7,13,14,19].Speech results in all reported series are excellent [6,7,[10][11][12][13][14][15]17] and hearing loss is an infrequent problem [6,7,14].…”