Anatomical characteristics of the nasal cartilages for successful rhinoplasty in Koreans.

[BACKGROUNDS] The aims of the present study were to determine the exact level of separation of the upper lateral cartilage from the septal cartilage, and to classify the patterns of connection between the upper lateral cartilage and the lower lateral cartilage.

[METHODS] We dissected and photographed 60 sides of noses; 18 specimens were sectioned and stained with Masson's trichrome.

[RESULTS] The mean length of the connection between the upper lateral cartilage and septal cartilage was 16.1 mm. The mean level for separation of the upper lateral cartilage was 7.5 mm from the nasal bone. The pattern of connection between the upper lateral cartilage and lower lateral cartilage could be classified into five types: disconnection, end-to-end, overlap, scroll, and reverse scroll.

[CONCLUSIONS] The results of the present study will be helpful for surgical procedures such as nasal hump reduction and nasal cartilage work and also provide information for the anthropometric study of the nose.