Cosmetic Asian Rhinoplasty

Anh H. Nguyen, MD

It is my pleasure to serve as guest editor of this issue of Seminars in Plastic Surgery on Asian rhinoplasty. Asian rhinoplasty surgery has significantly advanced in concept and technique over the past 10 to 15 years. It used to be that implant-only rhinoplasty was the only option for Asian rhinoplasty, with varying types of implants inserted. Surgeons searched for the ultimate implant material and implant configuration. Implant-based surgery, although proven safe in careful hands, was not without complications and limitations.

I am pleased to present nine contributions dealing with the updated trends, anatomy, physiology, and surgical approaches to creating the more modern Asian nasal aesthetics. In the first article, the authors highlight the evolution and milestones of Asian rhinoplasty. In the second and third articles, the authors correlate the significance of Asian anatomy and analysis in the final outcome of Asian nasal appearance, whereas in the fourth article, the surgeon and patient are guided in their development of a mutually accepted final appearance. It was quite a challenge in this modern age to find a surgeon in South Korea to take on an implant rhinoplasty article: Contemporary Asian rhinoplasty has moved well beyond simple implant rhinoplasty, but this approach is presented in the fifth article. The current trend is to employ a hybrid of cartilage and implant (the sixth article) or pure autologous cartilage (the seventh article) in Asian rhinoplasty. One common presentation of the Asian nose is the short nose and/or upturned nose—the solution of which is presented in the eighth article. A glimpse of the next step in Asian rhinoplasty, total support of the tip and not just the central portion of the tip, is provided in the ninth article, “Correction of Alar Retraction Based on Frontal Classification.”

I would like to express my thanks and gratitude to all the authors who donated their time and generously shared their techniques and ideas with us. Their experience, knowledge, and thoughtfulness are present in these articles, and it is greatly appreciated. I hope the readers will find these articles informative and thought provoking.