Nasalance Scores of Children With Repaired Cleft Palate Who Exhibit Normal Velopharyngeal Closure During Aerodynamic Testing

Purpose: To determine if children with repaired cleft palate and normal velopharyngeal (VP) closure as determined by aerodynamic testing exhibit greater acoustic nasalance than control children without cleft palate. Method: Pressure-flow procedures were used to identify 2 groups of children based on VP closure during the production of /p/ in the word hamper: (a) children with repaired cleft palate and normal VP closure (n = 23) and (b) controls without cleft palate and with normal VP closure (n = 16). Acoustic nasalance scores were obtained for all children during the production of syllables with high-pressure consonants and sentences with low-pressure consonants (i.e., low-pressure sentences). Results: Nasalance scores were generally higher for children with repaired cleft palate and normal VP function as compared to controls; however, a significant difference occurred only for low-pressure sentences (p = .005). Conclusion: Results partially support a pressure-sensitive theory of VP function in that some children with repaired cleft palate may achieve VP closure during the production of high-pressure consonants but fail to do so during the production of vowels and low-pressure consonants. Clinical implications are discussed.