[Autologous cartilage grafts for rhinoplasties in patients with clefts]

Almost any forms of complete clefts require a rhinoplasty in spite of good primary results with modern methods of operation in the labial region. The final correction is performed after the fifteenth year of life. The existent supporting tissue is often inadequate and will yield no optimal result if local reconstruction alone is performed. Transplantation of autologous cartilage to the side of the nose and to the columella may compensate for the deficit, the columella cartilage chip permitting to erect the nose, which gives favorable aesthetic and functional results. Consequently, rhinoplasty is recommended for certain unilateral complete clefts and in any case for bilateral complete clefts.