Data Linkage: Cleft Live-Birth Prevalence and Hospitalizations in Western Australia: 1980 to 2016

Anxiety in Chinese Patients With Cleft Lip and/or Palate: A Preliminary Study

OBJECTIVES

To preliminarily analyze factors that affected the prevalence of anxiety in Chinese patients with cleft lip and/or palate (CL/P).

METHODS

The Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale (GAD-7) was used to screen anxiety in Chinese CL/P patients. Non-CL/P individuals were also included as the control group. Sociodemographic and clinical data consisting of diagnosis, gender, only child or not, monthly household income, and current family location were collected to analyze possible factors that could affect the anxiety of this patient population.

RESULTS

One hundred forty-two and 78 valid questionnaires were collected from the study and control groups, respectively. The mean GAD-7 score of the study group (3.092 ± 3.381) was significantly lower than the control (3.987 ± 2.505). Moreover, the proportion of patients presenting with moderate-severe anxiety was larger in the study group than in the control group (6.6 vs. 0.0%). Statistically significant differences in GAD-7 scores were observed between the study and control groups when the patient was the only child, living in an urban area, or the monthly household income was between 1,000 and 5,000 yuan.

CONCLUSION

Although the severity of anxiety in Chinese CL/P patients was not severer than those without CL/P, there was a relatively high incidence of moderate-severe anxiety in CL/P patients, while the only child, current family location and the monthly household income played significant roles in affecting anxiety psychology.

Oropharyngeal Dysbiosis Affects Postoperative Tissue Reparative Capacity In Patients With Congenital Disorders Of Maxillofacial Region

Background — One of the main causes of hyperergic postoperative tissue response could be a prolonged opening in the septum between normally isolated anatomical regions, e.g., of the nasal cavity and oropharynx in patients with congenital disorders of maxillofacial region, which leads to anomalous exchange of their microbiotas. Objective — The objective of this study was to determine the composition of culturable facultative anaerobic microbiota of oronasopharyngeal mucosa, and to identify cytokine profiles in patients with congenital disorders of maxillofacial region in both preoperative and postoperative periods. Methods and Results — Our study is based on the results of examining the children with unilateral congenital cleft of upper lip (CL) before and after surgery, as well as examining the children with simultaneous unilateral congenital cleft of upper lip and palate (CLP) before and after primary rhinocheiloplasty. We used ELISA to determine the content of interleukin-10 (IL-1β) and interleukin-10 (IL-10) in the samples of blood serum and mucosal surfaces. The study of culturable microflora was conducted in patients before the surgery and during a postoperative period, specifically at one, three, six, and twelve months. Isolation of pure bacterial cultures was performed via conventional bacteriological methods followed by identification using MALDI-TOF testing. Before the surgery, microbial colonization was observed at significantly higher levels in CLP children than in healthy children. After the surgery, microbiological indicators partially came to normal values solely in CL patients. Local IL-1β concentrations remained significantly higher than those found in healthy subjects. In terms of postoperative dynamics, blood plasma antioxidant activity declined below normal values in CLP patients. Conclusion — Our study demonstrated the need for preoperative eradication of potential pathogens (e.g., Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella spp., Candida spp. and Streptococcus spp.), preferably, via using non-antibiotic approaches, such as probiotics and phage therapy, as well as supportive integrative therapy (e.g., using antioxidants).