Isolated congenital absence of lower lateral cartilages: A four cases report

BACKGROUND: Although isolated congenital absence of lower lateral cartilages are rare deformities, they deserve special attention of plastic surgeons performing rhinoplasty as these anomalies may pass unnoticed by the patient and the plastic surgeon; until confronting them during surgery. METHODS: From August 2017 to December 2017, four cases of segmental loss of lower lateral cartilages were discovered accidentally during open primary septorhinoplasty of a total series of 250 cases. They were unnoticed by the surgeon preoperatively and the patients were unaware of these problems cosmetically or functionally. There was no history of trauma, major infection or any intervention in all four patients. Reconstruction of lower lateral cartilages was done with septal cartilage graft as part of the septorhinoplasty procedure. RESULTS: All surgeries were uneventful postoperatively and all patients were satisfied with the results. CONCLUSION: On examining the patients for the rhinoplasty, one should be aware of subtle signs that may signify an underlying deformity in order for the patient to be informed about the complexity of the technique and for the surgeon to be prepared for the requirement of surgery.