Cutting the Holy Dome: The Evolution of Vertical Alar Resection

Dome division or vertical dome division (VDD) is a tip plasty technique that is effective when applied appropriately to suitable patients. For 15 years, we have used VDD and made modifications as needed. In classical VDD, the dome area is cut and left to heal, but experience shows that additional components are needed to complement dome division, such as sutures or grafts. In this study, we retrospectively analysed our rhinoplasty patients in whom we used vertical alar resection (VAR) to assess the advantages and disadvantages of this technique. To our knowledge, this is one of the most exhaustive studies of VDD, including over 3000 patients.

This retrospective case series reviewed the charts of 3965 patients who underwent VAR between 2000 and 2015. All patients were operated on by the senior surgeon. Dome division was used for various reasons, including a deformed tip area in revision rhinoplasties, droopy nose, wide tip, pinched nose, tip asymmetry, and overprojected nasal tip. Patients were excluded if they had septal deviation that enabled tip rotation, or a dorsum problem that caused tip asymmetry.

The study included 3965 patients (3172 women and 793 men) who underwent open rhinoplasty from 2000 to 2015. The mean patient age was 28.3 years (range 18-50 years). The mean clinical follow-up duration was 11.2 years.

In conclusion, this technique is capable of modifying all parameters of the nasal tip (projection, rotation, and volume), as required, at the same time, addressing many tip problems.

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