Q37.4: Cleft hard and soft palate with bilateral cleft lip

You have a cleft lip and palate with 2 clefts in your lip. This condition is congenital, which means you were born with it.

The palate is the roof of the mouth. The front of the palate consists of a bone plate, the hard palate. At the rear, the palate transitions into the soft palate. At the back of the palate, in the middle, hangs the uvula. To the side of this are the palatine arches.

The face is another part of the body to develop in the womb before birth. First of all, several parts are created for the lips, the upper jaw and the palate. These individual parts then merge. If this process is disrupted at any point, then one or more clefts may remain in the lips, the upper jaw or the palate.

A cleft in the hard and soft palate and in the lip is also called cleft lip and palate or orofacial clefts.

A cleft lip and palate can affect eating and drinking. You may also have problems with speaking. Ears may also get infected more frequently. A cleft lip and palate can disrupt the natural ventilation of the middle ears. The middle ears are connected to the throat. This connection helps to ventilate the middle ears.

Cleft lips and palates can be hereditary. Other family members can also be affected.

Additional indicator

On medical documents, the ICD code is often appended by letters that indicate the diagnostic certainty or the affected side of the body.

  • G: Confirmed diagnosis
  • V: Tentative diagnosis
  • Z: Condition after
  • A: Excluded diagnosis
  • L: Left
  • R: Right
  • B: Both sides

Further information

Note

This information is not intended for self-diagnosis and does not replace professional medical advice from a doctor. If you find an ICD code on a personal medical document, please also note the additional indicator used for diagnostic confidence.
Your doctor will assist you with any health-related questions and explain the ICD diagnosis code to you in a direct consultation if necessary.

Source

Provided by the non-profit organization “Was hab’ ich?” gemeinnützige GmbH on behalf of the Federal Ministry of Health (BMG).