A rare case of Sub mucous cleft palate wit Palatal fistula - Case report and Literature review

It is difficult to diagnose Sub mucous cleft palate (SMP) earlier in life if one of the criteria like bifid uvula is absent and the presence of palatal fistula (PF) in such cases can be considered as the diagnostic criteria for SMP. In our case one year old child was apparently normal at birth without bifid uvula when she developed fistula of soft palate at two months of age which was noticed by her parents. Patient underwent successful fistula closure and intravelar veloplasty at 1 year of age. By reviewing the literature we concluded that Palatal fistula can also be considered as one of the criteria for the diagnoses of SMP either early or late in life and is the indication for palatoplasty before development of VPI.