NYU Langone’s esteemed cleft lip and palate program will hold a patient reunion with baby Kennedee who was diagnosed with a cleft palate that made it difficult to breathe and swallow. Doctors at NYU Langone Hospital—Long Island | NYU Langone Health diagnosed the three-week preemie with Pierre Robin Sequence, wherein her small jaw caused her tongue to obstruct her airway and cause choking.
Thankfully, the newborn was able to undergo mandibular distraction, in which her jaw was surgically fractured and slowly elongated. The two-stage procedure enabled her tongue to move forward enough so that it no longer hindered her ability to breathe and eat. During the first surgery, the team placed a “distraction device” in the baby’s jaw, and then slowly turned the device over the following weeks, guiding the bone to grow in a planned way. Two months later, the device was removed.
Kennedee received a third surgery earlier this year to repair her cleft palate where tissue from her own body was rearranged to close the cleft of her hard and soft palate. Palatoplasty will close the opening between her nose and mouth to prevent speech problems as she develops. She also received ear tubes for fluid in her ears.
The team currently treats about one new cleft palate and lip case monthly and expects that number to grow given their new designation as a program.