Analysis of differences in nasal shapes and degree of changes with pairing analysis.

OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to analyze the differences in aging nasal morphometry and the degree of changes within an individual over at least ten-year period by pairing previous and recent three-dimensional reconstructed computed tomography (CT) images.

METHODS: A total of 48 adult Korean patients who underwent at least two CT scans of the nasal region with an interval of at least ten years were selected. Patients were categorized into age (20-39 years, 40-49 years, and 50 years or older) and sex-based six subgroups at the time of initial imaging. Eight nasal parameters were measured on the initial and recent images, and the paired comparison between the two images was performed based on the data. The differences in the degree of change by age were also analyzed.

RESULTS: With an average of 12-year image interval, men demonstrated an increase in the nasofrontal angle (3.2±5.4, p=0.041), profile nasal length (1.7±1.7, p=0.002), and nasal bridge height (1.2±1.6, p=0.002), while showing a decrease in the nasofacial angle (-2.3±2.9, p=0.010). Women demonstrated an increase in the nasofrontal angle (2.5±5.2, p=0.010), profile nasal length (1.4±1.9, p<0.001), and nasal bridge height (1.3±1.6, p<0.001), along with a decrease in the nasofacial angle (-2.0±2.1, p<0.001), glabella angle (-9.1±9.8, p<0.001), and pyriform angle (-8.5±10.1, p<0.001). Except for the nasal bridge height (p=0.036) and pyriform angle (p=0.022), most of the degree of changes in parameters did not show significant differences among age periods.

CONCLUSION: Our findings indicate that the aging nose exhibits a relatively longer nasal length with inferior angulation of the nasal tip, with an increase in the nasofrontal angle, profile nasal length, and nasal bridge height, along with a decrease in the nasofacial angle. Most of the degree of nasal morphologic changes demonstrated no differences by specific age period.