ISOLATED TESSIER NO. 1 CLEFT OF THE NOSE

We report 3 patients with isolated cleft or coloboma of the nose-an ex tremely rare occurrence. This entity belongs to no. 1 of Tessier's cla ssification of craniofacial clefts. Excessive separation of the medial and lateral nasal processes of the frontonasal process may be the gen esis of this condition. Management should address two points: the clef t and the associated malformations of the cartilaginous nasal framewor k.