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Best Practices
Dr. Donald Mackay, center, discusses follow-up care with the parents of a newborn patient.
Lancaster Cleft Palate Clinic’s Renovations Bring Enhanced Technology and New Family-Friendly Features 2021 TRANSFORMATION ADVANCES THE CLINIC’S WORK IN IMPROVING CHILDREN’S LIVES
LANCASTER
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PHYSICIAN
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s a medical student, Dr. Cathy Henry knew she wanted to be a pediatrician. Then she did a rotation with pediatric plastic and reconstructive surgeon Dr. Donald Mackay at the Lancaster Cleft Palate Clinic. “It was life-changing,” Henry said. “The clinic just felt special. They really took care of patients the way we wish we could in every aspect of medicine. I knew then I had to become a pediatric plastic surgeon.” Today, Henry is part of the pediatric surgery team at Penn State Health Children’s Hospital that performs cleft lip, palate, and other craniofacial procedures for the clinic’s patients. Roughly 1 in 700 children are born with a cleft, which can range from a small notch on the lip or palate to a significant one-sided or bilateral cleft. Normally, the tissues that make up a baby’s lip and palate fuse together in the second and third months of pregnancy. But in babies with cleft lip and cleft palate, the fusion never takes place or occurs only partway, leaving an opening. Many clefts are diagnosed prenatally via ultrasound. Researchers believe that most cases are caused by an interaction of genetic and environmental factors. In many babies, a definite cause isn’t discovered.
