Cleft and Velopharyngeal Function Vocabulary

Vocabulary terms covering velopharyngeal closure, resonance disorders, and clinical assessment techniques from the Cleft Kahoot study guide.

Tensor veli palatini

A muscle that is NOT primarily involved in achieving velopharyngeal closure.

Resonance

Speech quality determined by the size and shape of the resonating cavities.

Passavant's ridge

A muscular bulge on the posterior pharyngeal wall during speech.

Phoneme-specific nasal emission

Nasal emission during /s/ and /sh/ production in a child with no history of cleft.

VPI (functional consequence)

Allows for excessive nasal airflow during oral sound production.

Coronal pattern

The most common pattern of velopharyngeal (VP) closure.

Nasal emission

Occurs when a patient produces /b/ and /p/ with nasal airflow and weak pressure.

Nasopharyngoscopy

An instrumental assessment that best visualizes the movement of the velopharyngeal valve during speech.

Cul-de-sac resonance

Results from an obstruction that traps sound within a cavity, causing speech to sound muffled and low in volume like a "potato in mouth."

Compensatory misarticulation

Learned articulation errors that persist even after surgery, differentiating them from obligatory ones.

Mixed resonance

Characterized by hypernasality on oral sounds and hyponasality on nasal sounds.

Cul-de-sac test

A test for hypernasality where the presence is confirmed if there is a difference in resonance when the nose is pinched closed.

Submucous cleft palate

A condition featuring a bifid uvula and an upside-down notch in the palate.

Assessment Timing (Age 3-4)

The recommended age to assess speech, resonance, and VP function because the child needs sufficient speech and language skills to participate meaningfully.

Intra-oral exam

Evaluates oral structure and function, but cannot be used to evaluate VP function, which requires endoscopy or videofluoroscopy.

Testing for hyponasality

Best evaluated using nasal consonants, which will turn into oral sounds like /b/ if the condition is present.

Testing for nasal emission

Best evaluated using voiceless consonants (e.g., repeating "66" or /k/ sounds) because they involve high airflow.

Testing for hypernasality

Best evaluated using oral speech samples such as "buy baby a bib."