Augmentation rhinoplasty with mortised septal cartilage.

This report addresses cartilage graft fabrication for augmentation of the full length of the nasal dorsum. The author describes a mortise/tenon joint for synthesis of discontinuous pieces of autologous septal cartilage into a structurally sound graft. The functional geometry of that mortise/tenon joint is reviewed. Specific details of surgical technique are presented. Excellent results in 14 of 16 consecutive cases of nasal dorsal onlay grafting by this method are reviewed. Unfavorable results in two cases are analyzed. The advantages and disadvantages of the technique are discussed. The mortise/tenon joint is proposed as a method for fabrication of a large, strong dorsal onlay graft from separate pieces of septal cartilage.