Q: Can cleft palate or cleft lip in fetus be detected during an ultrasound examination?

A:Cleft lip can be identified as early as the 12th week of pregnancy. The accuracy of identifying this problem is high during the 18-20 weeks Anomalies Scan. At this stage about 95% of these problems can be seen. Of course, this means that like so many other developmental defects, about 55 will be missed even in a meticulous ultrasound scan. Three Dimensional (3D) and Real Time 3D (4D) can further enhance accuracy. Cleft palates can also be identified in the same time frame. However, the accuracy is about 75%.