Saying It Precisely, How Surgeons Classify a Cleft
Take the reading one piece at a time. For each piece: read it once, underline the sentence that says what happens, then look up any word in the list. Tap a word to see its definition.
Piece 1 of 2
A survey asked 197 cleft providers from 166 centers in 61 countries which classification systems they use. It found 18 different systems in use, but a few dominated: ICD-10 (35.5 percent), LAHSHAL (34.0 percent), Veau (32.5 percent), and Kernahan's striped-Y (22.8 percent). Providers said the most essential thing a system must capture is the cleft's anatomy, and their most common complaint was that their system did not describe severity and extent precisely enough.
Piece 2 of 2
Veau (four severity groups) uses the incisive foramen as the dividing line: I, soft palate only; II, soft and hard palate back to the incisive foramen; III, complete unilateral cleft of lip, alveolus, and palate; IV, complete bilateral cleft. LAHSHAL is a string of seven letters that march from the patient's right to left (Lip, Alveolus, Hard palate, Soft palate, Hard palate, Alveolus, Lip), with the soft palate central. A capital letter means a complete cleft of that structure, lowercase means incomplete, and a dot means intact, so one short string records side, extent, and completeness. The Kernahan striped-Y is a Y-shaped box diagram you shade for the clefted structures, doing the same job as a quick picture.
Reading the Research
- Skim the title and abstract first to get the gist.
- Circle the one sentence that states the main claim.
- Box the evidence the authors give for that claim.
- Mark one sentence that confuses you, and move on.
Now put it together: In one or two sentences, say what this whole reading is telling you about Mateo. Then go back to the lesson and fill in the guided notes.