Are some septal deformities inherited?: Type 6 revisited

Abstract

Objective: There has been little research into inherited septal deformities. While, Pejić carried out a study some 50 years ago, and Grymer more recently suggested that some posterior septal deformities could be inherited, both studies lack a precise definition of the types of septal deformities which were investigated. The aim of this paper is to investigate the hypothetic influence of heredity on the onset of particular types of septal deformities. The authors investigated a very particular and well defined type of septal deformity: type 6 after Mladina’s classification. Methods: The authors studied a group of 22 children among 779 children aged 7–14, selected at random, suffering from type 6 septal deformity and their 44 parents. They were examined by means of anterior rhinoscopy by two the same ENT specialists in rhinology. The control group consisted of 24 children with a straight nasal septum of the same age and sex distribution and their 48 parents. The results were compared using Fisher’s exact probability test. Results: In the studied group type 6 septal deformity was found in 21 out of 22 both fathers and mothers of these children. Type 6 was not found in any of 48 parents of children with no septal deformity. Conclusions: There is a high positive correlation between the appearance of type 6 septal deformities in both mothers and fathers of children with this type of deformity. The high correlation in the incidence of type 6 nasal deformity in mothers and their children and in fathers and their children suggests that this type of nasal deformity is inherited. Most authors hold that only posterior septal deformities result from inheritance factors, while anterior deformities result from environmental factors, that is, from injury to the nose and the central massif of the face. However, our study of type 6 deformities shows that certain types of anterior deformities can be inherited.