Anthropometric Anatomical and Morphological Nose Widths in Canadian Caucasian Adults

Abstract

The ratio of morphological (bialar diameter [al-al]):anatomical (alar base width [ac-ac]) nose width defines the quality of the soft nose contours. Quantitative data on ac-ac and its relationship to al-al, and the relationship of both nose widths to face width (bizygomatic diameter) have not been available in the literature. To correct this, the anatomical and morphological widths of the nose were measured anthropometrically in an ethnically mixed group of 120 healthy, young adult, Caucasian Canadians, and the ratios of nose widths:face width (which greatly influences nasofacial harmony in the frontal view) calculated. In 80% of subjects, the morphological (classical) nose width was larger than the anatomical nose width, which has close contact with the underlying skeleton. Mean nose width was 24.9% (ac-ac) and 26.1% (al-al) of the face width. This study may help in the corrective surgery of disproportions between the two nose-width measurements in patients with cleft lip nose, and in the restoration of harmony between the nose and face widths.