Möbius syndrome is a rare congenital neurological disorder which is characterized by facial paralysis and the inability to move the eyes from side to side. Most people with Möbius syndrome are born with complete facial paralysis and cannot close their eyes or form facial expressions. Limb and chest wall abnormalities sometimes occur with the syndrome. People with Möbius syndrome have normal intelligence, although their lack of facial expression is sometimes incorrectly taken to be due to dullness or unfriendliness. It is named for Paul Julius Möbius, a German neurologist who first described the syndrome in 1888. In 1994, the "Moebius Syndrome Foundation" was founded, and later that year the first "Moebius Syndrome Foundation Conference" was held in Los Angeles. A charity for Möbius syndrome was set up and registered in the UK in 1999 by Linda Anderson from Tyne and Wear, whose son had been born with the condition in 1980. She campaigned for many years, held conferences and gave medical speeches in America before she had to step away from the charity because of ill health.
A cleft lip contains an opening in the upper lip that may extend into the nose. The opening may be on one side, both sides, or in the middle. A cleft palate occurs when the palate contains an opening into the nose. The term orofacial cleft refers to either condition or to both occurring together. These disorders can result in feeding problems, speech problems, hearing problems, and frequent ear infections. Less than half the time the condition is associated with other disorders.
The hard palate is a thin horizontal bony plate made up of two bones of the facial skeleton, located in the roof of the mouth. The bones are the palatine process of the maxilla and the horizontal plate of palatine bone. The hard palate spans the alveolar arch formed by the alveolar process that holds the upper teeth.
Reconstructive surgery is surgery performed to restore normal appearance and function to body parts malformed by a disease or medical condition.
Shriners Children's is a network of non-profit medical facilities across North America. Children with orthopaedic conditions, burns, spinal cord injuries, and cleft lip and palate are eligible for care and receive all services in a family-centered environment, regardless of the patients' ability to pay. Care for children is usually provided until age 18, although in some cases, it may be extended to age 21.
Operation Smile is a nonprofit medical service organization founded in 1982 by Dr. William P. Magee Jr. and his wife Kathleen (Kathy) S. Magee. It is headquartered in Virginia Beach, Virginia.
Smile Train is a nonprofit organization and charity providing corrective surgery for children with cleft lips and palates. Headquartered in New York City and founded in 1999, Smile Train provides free corrective cleft surgery in 87 countries, training local doctors and providing hospital funding for the procedures.
ReSurge International, formerly known as Interplast, is the first international humanitarian organization to provide free reconstructive surgery in developing countries, primarily to children with cleft lip and palate and burn scar contractures.
Gillette Children's is a non-profit hospital located in St. Paul, Minnesota, USA. Through its hospital, clinics and greater Minnesota locations, Gillette treats patients with brain, bone and movement conditions needing specialized expertise.
Pierre Robin sequence is a congenital defect observed in humans which is characterized by facial abnormalities. The three main features are micrognathia, which causes glossoptosis, which in turn causes breathing problems due to obstruction of the upper airway. A wide, U-shaped cleft palate is commonly also present. PRS is not merely a syndrome, but rather it is a sequence—a series of specific developmental malformations which can be attributed to a single cause.
Fetal hydantoin syndrome, also called fetal dilantin syndrome, is a group of defects caused to the developing fetus by exposure to teratogenic effects of phenytoin. Dilantin is the brand name of the drug phenytoin sodium in the United States, commonly used in the treatment of epilepsy.
Speech-language pathology is a healthcare field of expertise practiced globally. Speech-language pathology (SLP) specializes in the evaluation, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of communication disorders, cognitive-communication disorders, voice disorders, and swallowing disorder across the lifespan. It is an independent profession that is sometimes considered a "related health profession" or allied health profession by professional bodies like the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) and Speech Pathology Australia. Allied health professions include audiology, optometry, occupational therapy, rehabilitation psychology, physical therapy and others.
The Cleft Lip and Palate Association, also known as CLAPA, is a national charity registered in England, Wales, and Scotland which supports people affected by cleft lip and cleft palate in the United Kingdom.
Pediatric plastic surgery is plastic surgery performed on children. Its procedures are most often conducted for reconstructive or cosmetic purposes. In children, this line is often blurred, as many congenital deformities impair physical function as well as aesthetics.
Oral and maxillofacial pathology refers to the diseases of the mouth, jaws and related structures such as salivary glands, temporomandibular joints, facial muscles and perioral skin. The mouth is an important organ with many different functions. It is also prone to a variety of medical and dental disorders.
Hypernasal speech is a disorder that causes abnormal resonance in a human's voice due to increased airflow through the nose during speech. It is caused by an open nasal cavity resulting from an incomplete closure of the soft palate and/or velopharyngeal sphincter. In normal speech, nasality is referred to as nasalization and is a linguistic category that can apply to vowels or consonants in a specific language. The primary underlying physical variable determining the degree of nasality in normal speech is the opening and closing of a velopharyngeal passage way between the oral vocal tract and the nasal vocal tract. In the normal vocal tract anatomy, this opening is controlled by lowering and raising the velum or soft palate, to open or close, respectively, the velopharyngeal passageway.
In the Philippines, the Kapampangan Development Foundation (KDF) is an organization of Kapampangans living outside the region. It was founded in 1987 by 35 people who were inspired by President Corazon Aquino; in 2012, 11 of its founders remained. The KDF has created a rural-industrialization program known as RICH and has provided social and health services to poor residents of Pampanga through its HELP program, with assistance from international and non-governmental organizations and government agencies.
The Children's Surgical Centre (CSC) is a non-profit, non-governmental, and non-religious surgical hospital in Phnom Penh, Cambodia and registered as a 501(c)(3) in the United States. Founded in 1998, the centre aims to improve the quality of life for disabled children and adults by providing free rehabilitative surgery.
The Overseas Plastic Surgery Appeal is a registered charity in the UK, that exists to provide free facial surgery for poor children and young adults in Pakistan. The OPSA team operate on facial abnormalities including cleft lip and palate.
Alliance for Smiles (AfS) is a nonprofit organization founded in 2004 in San Francisco. They provide free surgical repairs for cleft lip and cleft palate, with missions mostly in the continents of Asia and Africa. They also work to develop treatment centers where continuous follow-up care can be provided.
