TUESDAY, Nov. 17 (HealthDay News) -- Use of irradiated homologous costal cartilage (IHCC) grafts for rhinoplasties is associated with a low complication rate and high patient satisfaction, according to a study in the November/December issue of the Archives of Facial Plastic Surgery.

Russell W.H. Kridel, M.D., from the University of Texas Medical School in Houston, and colleagues reviewed the medical records of 357 patients who had undergone 386 primary or revision rhinoplasties using 1,025 IHCC grafts.

The researchers found that the complication rate over 24 years was 3.25 percent, similar to the complication rate for autogenous cartilage grafts. IHCC grafts were not associated with allergic reactions or systemic disease. During a mean follow-up of 7.87 years, patient satisfaction increased from 91.31 to 94.18 percent in categories including nasal appearance, nasal breathing, nasal symptoms, and quality of life.

"Based on careful and extensive review of the data, we have concluded that IHCC is well tolerated as a grafting material in rhinoplasty and yields superb functional, structural, and cosmetic results in the most complex and challenging operative cases necessitated by previous unsuccessful nasal surgery, septal perforations, and even in autoimmune diseases that led to nasal deformity," Kridel and colleagues conclude.

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