Surgeries for cleft palates are often done so early in life, and so routinely these days, people often forget how serious the condition can be. Cleft palate and the malformations that come with it can affect not just a child’s ability to eat, but also their hearing and their overall development. Parents with babies who have cleft palates worry constantly about their child choking and grapple with all kinds of day-to-day struggles.

Such was the case with the parents of Clayton Freiberger, one of our surgery patients who was featured recently as a Kosair Kid on the cover of Kosair Charities Kite Tales magazine. While most children are diagnosed with cleft palate in utero, Clayton’s face was concealed in his scans. His parents were completely shocked when he was born, and were not prepared for the medical needs that came with his feeding and hearing issues. His cleft emptied into his sinuses, which made feeding dangerous and left his parents reluctant to leave him in anyone else’s care. They juggled work schedules, weekly visits to specialists and long commutes to work from Indiana. The medical bills were mounting, and his parents didn’t know how they were going to keep up.

Fortunately, Kosair Charities was able to step in to help the Freibergers, getting him cleft palate corrective surgery through Dr. Chariker while Clayton was just a small infant.

“He’s a great little guy, and he’s really turned the corner,” Dr. Chariker said. “He’s walking and talking now. He still has some treatment ahead of him to help correct his hearing issues, but I think everyone on the team who’s working with him feels good about his prognosis for the future,” he said. “It is my passion and my life’s work restoring the faces of children who, through birth defects or accidents, face medical challenges. I can’t tell you how rewarding it is to give these kids a shot at a living a more normal life. We’re very proud to have a practice that works with Kosair Charities kids. They are a huge resource to our patients, and to the community,” he added.
Photo Credit:HolidayPictures.com

Did you know that Dr. Chariker is also an author? Many of his cases have been written up in professional journals, like his most recent entry, in the March 2011 edition of the Journal of Craniofacial Surgery.

Dr. Chariker has done hundreds of cleft palate surgeries over the years, but every now and then, you get one that is one for the history books. Recently a mother brought her three-day-old infant daughter to us for a consult for a cleft palate surgery. The baby had a large cleft in the roof of her mouth and was having trouble feeding.

Upon further examination, we could see she had not just a cleft, but a mass protruding through her cleft that was actually covered with fine, soft hair. An x-ray revealed that the mass was connected through her palate to the base of her skull. Surgery was recommended, and the infant pulled through well. Pathology on the removed tumor showed that it was not cancer, or even a benign tumor. It was a duplicate pituitary gland—one of only 40 such cases ever recorded worldwide.

“We’re very happy we could treat this child so early. No one knows why this tumor grew as a malformation in the mouth. However, the pituitary gland is responsible for the distribution of growth hormone in the body. Having two working glands could have created real growth imbalances for this child. Now, she’ll have a nearly normal appearance, no eating problems, and no problems with the continued growth of that unnecessary gland. Her prognosis is great,” Dr. Chariker said.

We’re glad we could help this little girl, and at the same time, contribute to the body of knowledge about treating these rare disorders!