Secondary cleft rhinoplasty rejuvenates the nose: a suggestion from a panel survey.

BACKGROUND

Cleft-lip nasal deformity (CLND) affects the overall facial appearance and attractiveness. The CLND nose shares some features in part with the aging nose.

OBJECTIVES

This questionnaire survey examined: 1) the panel perceptions of the role of secondary cleft rhinoplasty in nasal rejuvenation; and 2) the influence of a medical background in cleft care, age and gender of the panel members on the estimated age of the CLND nose.

STUDY DESIGN

Using a cross-sectional study design, we enrolled a random sample of adult laypersons and health care providers. The predictor variables were secondary cleft rhinoplasty (before/after) and a medical background in cleft care (yes/no). The outcome variable was the estimated age of nose in photographs derived from 8 German nonsyndromic CLND patients. Other study variables included age, gender, and career of the assessors. Appropriate descriptive and univariate statistics were computed, and a P value of <.05 was considered to be statistically significant.

RESULTS

The sample consisted of 507 lay volunteers and 51 medical experts (407 [72.9%] were female; mean age ± SD = 24.9 ± 8.2 y). The estimated age of the CLND noses was higher than their real age. The rhinoplasty decreased the estimated age to a statistically significant degree (P < .0001). A medical background, age, and gender of the participants were not individually associated with their votes (P > .05).

CONCLUSIONS

The results of this study suggest that CLND noses lack youthful appearance. Secondary cleft rhinoplasty rejuvenates the nose and makes it come close to the actual age of the patients.