[Structural organization of the orbicular muscle of the mouth in children with a congenital cleft of the upper lip undergoing electrostimulation].

At light optic and electron microscopical levels with application of morphometric analysis the mouth orbicular muscle has been studied in 6-8-month-old children with a complete unilateral cleft lip. The muscle is characterized by distinctly manifested signs of hypertrophy: high contents of the connective tissue, poor capillarization, presence of focal destructive-degenerative changes in the muscle fibers; they result from decreased function of the muscle activity. Preoperative physiotherapeutic treatment with pulsed low-frequency electrical current stimulates development of the muscle tissue. In the muscle specific share of muscle fibers increases, and contents of the connective tissue decreases, respectively, indices of capillarization improve, mitochondrial apparatus of the muscle fibers becomes more powerful.