Effects of levator retrodisplacement on conductive hearing loss in the cleft palate patient

The effect of a levator retrodisplacement procedure upon conductive hearing loss in cleft palate patients was evaluated. Forty-two children with cleft palates, operated upon between 1970 and 1975, were included in the study. The results suggest that 73.5% of those in the levator retrodisplacement group achieved normal hearing, compared with 37.5% among those whose palatoplasties did not include levator retrodisplacement. The degree of hearing impairment in patients with levator retrodisplacement was mild (20 to 40 db) in contrast to that in patients without levator retrodisplacement, whose impairment was severe (40 to 60 db).