A comparative study of the medial crura of alar cartilages in unilateral secondary cleft nasal deformity: the validity of medial crus elevation.

The purpose of this study was to confirm whether the medial crus on the cleft side is primarily hypoplastic compared with the noncleft side and to evaluate the displacement of the medial crus on the cleft side presenting the validity of the "medial crus elevation" method. Thirty unilateral cleft lip nasal deformity patients underwent medial crus elevation. The thickness, width, and length of the medial crus on both sides were measured. The difference in the height of both foot plates was also measured. There were no significant differences between the cleft and noncleft sides in width, thickness, or length except proximal thickness. The foot plate on the cleft side was displaced downward. The medial crus on the cleft side is not hypoplastic, and it is merely displaced downward. These results show the validity of the medial crus elevation method for the correction of secondary nasal deformities in cleft patients.