Abstract: Objective To explore a best surgical method for the correction of velopharyngeal closure by comparing the speech intelligibility between von Langenbeck palatoplasty and double-opposing Z-plasty in children with cleft palate. Methods From 2009 to 2013, 69 cases with cleft soft palate were selected. Thirty-five cases were repaired using double-opposing Z-plasty (double-opposing Z-plasty group), others were repaired using von Langenbeck palatoplasty (von Langen-beck group).All cases were followed up after the age of 3.5 years.A single blind hearing was conducted by 3 phonetics,and the speech intelligibility between the two groups was compared. Results The speech assessment showed that the average speech intelligibility was 88.72%±6.05% in double-opposing Z-plasty group, which was significantly higher than that in von Langenbeck group 71.31%±3.46%. Conclusion Double-opposing Z-plasty repair can decrease the pharyngeal cavity and increase the length of soft palate to reconstruct the soft palate muscle,which is beneficial for the correction of velopharyngeal closure.

Key words: Cleft palate, von Langenbeck palatoplasty, Double-opposing Z-plasty repair, Speech intelligibility