Three-dimensional nasal morphology in adult bilateral cleft palate patients: a morphanalytic study

The residual anomalies of the soft and hard tissues of the nose were studied in a group of adult bilateral cleft palate patients. Standard morphanalytic techniques were used to produce objective and accurate pictorial representations of the mean nasal deformities in three dimensions. The spatial positions of these mean outlines were tested statistically against normal means. Mean bilateral cleft nasal outlines were shown to have symmetric lateral and superior displacement of both alae with nasal blunting and retrusion and rounding of the nasal dorsum. The analytic techniques used indicated that the reduction in the depth of the external nose was confined to its posterior part. The presence of a palatal cleft in conjunction with the bilateral labial cleft only slightly increased the degree of deformity. In the case of asymmetrically incomplete bilateral clefts the nasal deformity in adulthood retained certain asymmetric features.