Correction of the Bilateral Cleft Lip Nasal Deformity: Evolution of a Surgical Concept

Abstract

The origin of the nasal deformity of a bilateral complete cleft lip is both primary (deformation/malformation) and secondary (postoperative distortion). This is an interim report of a personal evolution from staged correction of the bilateral cleft nasal deformity to synchronous repair of the nose and the lip and premaxillarymaxillary clefts. The anatomic concept is that, because of the maIpositioned alar cartilages, the columella only appears to be short in an infant with bilateral cleft lip. The technical stratagems to model the nose are: (1) alignment of the premaxilla and (2) anatomic placement of the alar cartilages with sculpturing of the overlying soft tissue.