A Pitfall in Prenatal Ultrasonic Detection of Submucous Cleft Palate.

OBJECTIVE: We present a case with prenatal diagnosis of submucous cleft palate (SMCP) which was described using 2- and 3-dimensional (3D) ultrasonography in utero. CASE REPORT: A 25-year-old pregnant woman was referred to our department for fetal ultrasound screening. After the detection of cardiac and spinal malformations of fetal, further detailed examination detected SMCP, which showed a gap within the hard palate on axial transversal view with the soft palate visible on sagittal view. The imaging of a defective hard palate in prenatal 3D ultrasonography is similar to that in postmortem 3D computed tomography reconstruction. CONCLUSION: A gap within the hard palate and verification of the visibility of the soft palate should be key points in the prenatal diagnosis of SMCP. Three-dimensional ultrasonic imaging is helpful for displaying the shape and extent of the bony defect in SMCP.