Application of Autologous Cartilage Transplantation in the Reconstruction of Congenital Nasal Soft Triangle Deformities in Asians.

[BACKGROUND] Nasal soft triangle is one of the areas usually left unattended in most rhinoplasties, whereas its unique anatomy puts it at great risk of deformities. Its appearance is critical to the natural contour of the nasal tip lobule. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the outcome of autologous cartilage transplantation in treating congenital nasal soft triangle deformities in Asians.

[METHODS] From January 2016 to January 2018, 32 patients underwent the procedure, in which costal cartilage, septal cartilage, or conchal cartilage was taken. All cases were operated upon using the external rhinoplasty approach. The cartilage was carved into battens as the lateral and intermediate crura grafts to reconstruct the dome of alar cartilage and treat the soft triangle deformities. The costal cartilage or septal cartilage was used as a columella strut. At the same time, a prosthesis or costal cartilage scaffold was placed onto the nasal dorsum, and finally the fascia was placed on the tip of the nose to relieve tension. The changes of the angle between the intermediate and lateral crura of the alar cartilage before and after cartilage graft and the difference between the greatest distance from the long axis of the nostrils to the alar rim before and after surgery were statistically analyzed. In addition, we compared the preoperative and postoperative nasal contour and evaluated the outcome of soft tissue triangle deformities and asymmetry correction and the whole procedure.

[RESULTS] The angle between the lateral and medial crura of the 32 patients decreased from 51.5 ± 10.9 degrees preoperatively to 37.2 ± 5.9 degrees at completion of the nasal dome reconstruction (P < 0.05). The maximum distance from the long axis of the nostrils to the alar rim was 3.3 ± 0.6 mm preoperatively and 1.9 ± 0.7 mm postoperatively (P < 0.05). The patients were followed up for 6 to 18 months, and the noses were with natural contour and tactile impression and without any serious complications. The degree of satisfaction was 87.5%.

[CONCLUSIONS] The application of autologous cartilage is an ideal choice to treat soft triangle deformities, which can result in significant improvement of the nasal contour and high degree of satisfaction postoperatively.