Pathology and treatment of nasoschizis

A craniofacial malformation is caused by a developmental arrest that results in focal fetal dysplasia. The severity, location, and number of these dysplasias make a wide spectrum of abnormalities possible. In this spectrum nasal dysplasia and, more particularly, the malformations characterized by a cleft in the lateral part of the nose play a prominent role, but in past years they have received only scant attention. In Tessier's classification this nasoschizis is the Number 1 cleft. We present here our observation in 2 patients with nasoschizis and the procedure used to correct it. Both patients were operated on at the Rambam Medical Center in Haifa, Israel.