DEFORMITIES of the base of the nose are frequently combined with other nasal malformations. The size and direction of the nostrils, the thickness and contour of the alae, the configuration of the columella, the breadth and height of the lobule and the form of the alarfacial junction are problems of plastic repair for the surgeon. Occasionally it is their correction which decides the final result. The nares are not mere openings for the entrance or escape of air but are functioning organs from a physiologic point of view. They are essential elements in the production of facial expression.1
By looking at a collection of photographs of nasal bases it seems rather difficult to find two persons with similar nasal bases, just as it it unusual to discover two persons with matching external noses. Only identical twins may make an exception to this rule.
I shall enumerate briefly a few anatomic