OBJECTIVE:

To define the intrinsic (hypoplasia) and extrinsic (deformational) contributions to congenital nasal deformities and the potential of a carrier state for orofacial clefting.

METHODS:

Retrospective case series.

RESULTS:

The factors affecting 4 congenital nasal deformities are postulated after contrasting the patient's characteristics.

CONCLUSIONS:

The spectrum of congenital nasal deformities includes those that resemble the cleft lip nasal deformity, but careful inspection is needed for proper classification. Classifying congenital nasal deformities can be difficult in part due to the highly variable normal range. The most minor form of the typical unilateral cleft lip nasal deformity is the microform cleft. The potential of an isolated cleft lip nasal deformity without obvious cleft lip has been previously suggested to represent a carrier state for orofacial clefting. Definitive genetic studies and continued anthropometric documentation in relatives of patients with orofacial clefts are needed if we are to uncover previously unidentified associations, and a potential carrier state.