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    NMCP Recognizes National Cleft and Craniofacial Awareness Month

    PORTSMOUTH, VA, UNITED STATES

    07.24.2019

    Story by Petty Officer 1st Class Laura Myers 

    Naval Medical Center - Portsmouth

    July is National Cleft and Craniofacial Awareness Month. Craniofacial anomalies are a diverse group of deformities in the growth of the head and facial bones.

    “Cleft and craniofacial anomalies are fairly rare, but we see patients in the community that have these anomalies, and we don’t really think about all the things they go through to have those anomalies corrected,” said Lt. Cmdr. Tamara Kemp, a Naval Medical Center Portsmouth (NMCP) plastic and reconstructive surgeon. “We don’t think about raising children in that setting of having repeated medical interventions and about 20 years of surgeries ahead of them.”

    The importance of cleft and craniofacial awareness is letting people know that this isn’t just something that can be fixed with just one surgery, or just one time.

    “For instance, cleft lip and palate,” Kemp said. “We see these patients when they are infants and people know that eventually they will get their cleft repaired, but there is a whole lot more to it and these patients are looking at multiple surgeries down the line.”

    NMCP has a team of providers who work closely with patients and their families to provide long-term care, guidance and resources. The craniofacial board includes developmental pediatrics, speech language pathology, an Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) doctor, social work, psychiatric care, surgeons and a geneticist.

    “One Friday each month, we all gather and patients see each of the different providers individually,” Kemp said. “Then we gather for the board discussion after all patients have been seen, and agree on a treatment plan from every discipline. We write a letter to the patient’s family that is a summary as to what we recommend and the frequency of follow-ups we recommend with each of the providers as needed. You’re able to get a subspecialized opinion on pretty much every aspect of your child’s care in one morning.”

    Most anomalies are identified at birth, but occasionally things like neurofibromatosis form over a lifetime so those patients may not have any visible anomalies at birth.

    “They develop these tumors that create kind of big, hanging masses off of their face and limbs,” Kemp said. “That is something that is an acquired craniofacial anomaly that we would be managing for their entire life, and would certainly necessitate some anticipatory guidance for the parent as the child is growing, and we are identifying these things as they grow.”

    As the U.S. Navy's oldest, continuously-operating military hospital since 1830, Naval Medical Center Portsmouth proudly serves past and present military members and their families. The nationally-acclaimed, state-of-the-art medical center, along with the area's 10 branch health and
    TRICARE Prime Clinics, provide care for the Hampton Roads area. The medical center also supports premier research and teaching programs designed to prepare new doctors, nurses and hospital corpsman for future roles in healing and wellness.

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    NEWS INFO

    Date Taken: 07.24.2019
    Date Posted: 07.25.2019 12:57
    Story ID: 333014
    Location: PORTSMOUTH, VA, US

    Web Views: 61
    Downloads: 0

    PUBLIC DOMAIN