FACIAL CLEFTING IN KUWAIT AND ENGLAND - A COMPARATIVE-STUDY

A retrospective study of all new cases of facial clefts seen between January 1985 and December 1987 was carried out at the Ibn Sina Hospital, Kuwait, and West Midlands Regional Plastic and Jaw Surgery Unit at Wordsley Hospital, Stourbridge, England; 234 arab children in Kuwait and 181 white Caucasian children in the West Midlands were studied. Despite vast differences in racial characteristics, environment and customs the pattern of clefting was very similar in the two groups. The incidence of clefts was calculated for the two regions and this demonstrated an increase in the incidence of cleft lip and palate (CL/P and CP) in the West Midlands since the last study was reported from this region in 1953. © 1990 The Trustees of British Association of Plastic Surgeons. All rights reserved.