ABSTRACT
The authors emphasize the importance of MRI as a means to functionally evaluate patients
in primary (PR) and secondary (SR) rhinoseptoplasty. Forty-eight subjects were appraised
who underwent various types of corrective nose surgery: 31 PR, 12 SR, 4 iatrogenic
perforations, and 1 dermoid cyst of the nasal dorsum. MRI allows the nasal structures
at the level of the valve to be visualized, as well as the medial and lateral walls
of the nasal fossa in all of its components. MRI studies improve pre-surgical evaluation
(alar cartilages, interdomal distance, and valvular configuration), and the exam of
structures and anomalies which are hard to evaluate by the rhinoscopy (turbino-septal-synchias,
perforations, losses of bone-cartilaginous substance). Moreover, through MRI the nasal
respiratory surface (NRS) is determined and used by the authors to quantify the improvement
of the postsurgical nasal respiratory function. All of these points gain importance
during the planning of primary, secondary, and/or corrective surgery.
KEY WORDS
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) - rhinoseptoplasty
