CONGENITAL INSUFFICIENCY OF THE PALATE

Abstract

He who knows the past can best interpret the present English: Congenital insufficiency of the palate Congenital shortening of the palate Submucous cleft palate French: Brievete velo-palatine Insuffisance velo-palatine German: Submukoese Spaltung des harten Gaumens Fissura ossea occulta Fissura muscularis occulta Italian: Insufficienza velo-palatina Congenital insufficiency of the palate is a condition in which the velum, assisted by the superior constrictor muscle of the pharynx, fails to produce sphincter-like closure between the nasopharynx and the oro-pharynx, a condition essential for the production of normal speech. While congenital insufficiency of the palate has probably existed from the beginning of the human race, no reference to it occurs in the literature until 1825. Roux, 1 in 1825, first called the attention of the medical profession to congenital insufficiency of the palate. He stated in his paper that in 1823 he was consulted by a young girl who nasalized so badly that her