Linear growth patterns in patients with cleft lip or palate or both.

Sequential height determinations were made in patients with isolated cleft palate (ICP) and in patients with cleft lip with or without cleft palate (CLP) during an 11-year period. In 31 patients with ICP height percentiles tended to decrease with age. Beyond 8 years of age, none exceeded the 50th percentile, and measurements in eight (26%) of the patients with ICP were consistently below the fifth percentile. In 34 patients with CLP, after 4 years of age height percentiles were bimodular and clearly separable into a short group (65% below the 50th percentile) and a tall group (35% at or above the 70th percentile). The average height of the parents was normal and suggests alteration of the polygenic inheritance of stature in patients with ICP. While the heights of short and tall patients with CLP reflect the mean height of their parents, the distinct bimodular distribution of the heights of patients with CLP was not anticipated.