Nostril asymmetry: microform of cleft lip palate? An anthropometrical study of healthy North American caucasians.

Eight surface measurements of the nose and quality of nostril type and ala shape helped in the classification of 184 nostril asymmetries found in 1312 health North American Caucasians six to 18 years of age. Twenty-one of 1312 persons (1.6%) revealed severe degrees of nostril asymmetry characterized by uneven level of the alar base, asymmetries in the width of the nostril floor and length of the columella, and deviations in the columella and nasal bridge. This variation was most similar to the nasal disfigurement found in noncleft members of cleft families (Fukuhara and Saito, 1963; Tolarová et al., 1971). In order to accept this variation as a microform of the cleft anomaly, further anthropometrical study of the nose of noncleft members of cleft families will be required;