Clientele of the Cranium-facial Anomalies Center in Mato Grosso, Brazil

Objectives: To describe the patients assisted by the Cranium-facial Anomalies Center of the Hospital Geral Universitário/Universidade de Cuiabá located in the city of Cuiabá, Mato Grosso State, Brazil, identifying: a) the patients' age when entering the center; b) the different palate and lip clefts prevalence among the center patients; c) the presence of other congenital defects associated to the palate and lip fissures.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was performed using the medical files of the 398 patients who entered the Cranium-facial Anomalies Center of the Hospital Geral Universitário/Universidade de Cuiabá from November of 2004 to January of 2008.

Results: Only 30% (n = 121) of the patients entered the program before one year of age, considered the ideal time to begin the treatment. The most prevalent type of cleft was the incisive trans-foramen cleft with 47% (n = 180) of the cases, from those, 52% (n = 94) were located at the left side. 94% (n = 278) of the patients didn't have any other associated congenital defects, 5% (n = 16) had other associated congenital defects and 1% (n = 4) of the cases were still under investigation.

Conclusion: The Cranium-facial Anomalies Center in Mato Grosso creation in November of 2004 fulfilled a great demand of unassisted citizens with cranium-facial defects, which can be seen by the number of patients who entered the center in the 39 months its existence. As it is the first center in the State of Mato Grosso to offer a multi-disciplinary treatment to this category of patients, its creation brought health technology closer to the population, attending people that, otherwise, would not have conditions to be rehabilitated, which can be seen by the great number of patients who entered the program after the recommended age.