Aesthetic restoration of the nose.

By using intranasal tissues for lining, employing cartilage battens to brace against contraction or collapse, designing axial skin flaps from exact three-dimensional patterns, using the topographic subunits of the nose as templates, and refining the result by subcutaneous sculpturing, a new nasal part that is nearly normal in appearance can be created in a few stages. It should be remembered that the restored part is not a nose, but merely a collage of forehead skin, cheek skin, mucosa, vestibular lining, nasal septum, and ear cartilage fragments all stuck together with collagen, as with glue. It is taken for a nose only because its contour, color, and texture are exact. The principles of aesthetic reconstruction are valid, and the results are consistent.