Respiratory mucocele formation after augmentation genioplasty with nasal osteocartilaginous graft

Retrogenia is a relatively common condition that is treated by numerous tec hniques, most often with osteoplastic procedures or autologous or allogenei c grafts. However, sometimes the chin deformity is associated with orthomor phic deviations of other facial structures such as the nose and it is commo n practice to simultaneously correct the facial deformities via a simultane ous rhinoplasty and genioplasty procedure. If the removed osseous/cartilagi nous material is of sufficient amount and quality, it is tempting to use it for augmentation purposes on the chin. The technique of augmentation with nasal bone or cartilage was frequently performed in the past.(1,2) This sur gical procedure was first introduced by Gustave Aufricht in 1934, at which time the author warned against leaving any attached mucosa on the harvested bone and cartilage.(1) The specific problems of possible development of a mucosal cyst was suggested by Safian,(3) although no cases were reported. We present a case of a respiratory mucocele occurring 39 years after chin a ugmentation with autologous nasal bone and cartilage. To our knowledge, no such case has been previously reported in the literature.