Interpositional cartilage grafts to improve vertical length of the face.

BACKGROUND: Most plastic surgeons in the past used bone grafts for nasal augmentation and for augmentation of the middle third of the face, and we, in our service, also used bone grafts at that time. Later, however, most plastic surgeons changed, and cartilage grafts are now the favorite material for rhinoplasty. For many years, we used cartilage grafts in rhinoplasty, and we now report the use of cartilage grafts to augment the length of the middle third of the face.

METHODS: We performed an osteotomy Le Fort I and harvest cartilage grafts from the costal region; then, we placed cartilage grafts between the upper portion and the lower portion of the maxilla to augment the vertical dimension of the middle third of the face.

RESULTS: Results in our patients were excellent.

CONCLUSIONS: Instead of bone grafts, cartilage grafts can be used as a good alternative to augment the vertical dimension of the maxilla.