THE MORPHOLOGY OF THE NOSTRIL SILL

The nostril sill is a structure which has been overlooked in both anat omical and surgical texts. An understanding of the normal anatomy will help in reconstruction of the nostril both in congenital and acquired conditions, including cleft lip. In order to investigate this feature 100 normal Caucasian adults, with equal sex incidence, have been asse ssed by direct measurement and photography. Three major variants of fo rm were identified with significant differences in sill height and ang ulation seen. A true nostril sill was found in only 62% of the study p opulation and sex differences were noted among the variants. A relatio nship was noted between each nostril sill variant and nostril type. Th e implications for reconstruction are discussed.