Cleft lip nose correction with onlay calvarial bone graft and suture suspension in oriental patients

To correct the secondary cleft lip nose deformity in Oriental patients, man y alar cartilage mobilization and suspension techniques have been developed . However, these techniques have critical limitations. One of the limitatio ns is the suspension vector, and another is suspension power. The suspensio n vector is from inferior to superior and from the deformed alar cartilage to the normal alar cartilage. Thus, the vector is not suitable for normal n asal tip projection. The suspension power is not satisfactory because Orien tal people have underdeveloped, thin alar cartilages and thick skin. So, th e suspended, deformed alar cartilage may relapse and pull the normal alar c artilage to the deformed side. To overcome these limitations, the authors u se the cantilever calvarial bone graft for tip projection; it also serves a s a strong, rigid framework for cartilage and soft-tissue suspension. Using these techniques, the authors can create normal nasal tip projection and a normal looking nasal aperture.