Long-Term Resorption Rates of Conchal and Rib Cartilage Grafts in Nasal Tip Plasty in Asian Patients: A Retrospective Study.

[BACKGROUND] Autologous cartilage has been extensively employed in nasal tip plasty procedures. Nevertheless, long-term resorption rates of autologous cartilage grafts, particularly on the nasal tip, remain uncertain to surgeons worldwide. Thus, the present study aims to assess the resorption rate of conchal cartilage and rib cartilage.

[METHODS] A total of 27 patients who underwent nasal tip plasty using either ear cartilage graft as cap graft or rib cartilage used as septal extension graft and cap graft simultaneously between 2015 and 2024 were included in this study. These patients underwent 3D photogrammetry before the surgery (T0), immediately postoperatively (T1, average of 11.1 days), and one long-term follow-up (T2, average of 453 days). Both 2D metrics such as tip height and 3D metrics including nose volume, nasal tip volume were analyzed using computer software to evaluate the difference in long-term resorption rate.

[RESULTS] The conchal cartilage group (n = 17) showed a higher resorption rate in tip height (95.40% ± 0.953) compared to the rib cartilage group (17.50% ± 0.521, p = 0.026). Similarly, the conchal group (n = 10) exhibited a greater resorption rate in tip volume (57.12% ± 0.343) compared to the rib group (30.42% ± 0.274, p = 0.047), while resorption rate in other measurements did not show significant difference.

[CONCLUSIONS] Both cartilage grafts adequately provided support in the short term, while the septal extension graft and cap graft constructed with rib cartilage demonstrated superior long-term stability and a reduced rate of tip projection loss, which indicates lower resorption rate when compared to cap graft constructed with conchal cartilage.

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