Congenital cleft ear lobe deformity: a staged reconstruction.

Congenital ear lobe deformities are, fortunately, very rare. Most of these deformities will require, however, surgical correction due to the importance of the ear lobes in facial symmetry. The scarcity of soft tissues available for reconstruction in the remaining auricle led to the development of a multitude of local flaps. Results are hampered by unsightly donor-site scars and unnatural shape or size of the reconstructed lobule. A case of a unilateral cleft ear lobe is presented to demonstrate a two-stage reconstruction mode that we find to be simple, yet versatile, producing a good esthetic result.