The efficacy of rhinoplasty alone in facial rejuvenation.

PURPOSE The aim of the study was to demonstrate whether rhinoplasty alone is a rejuvenating procedure for the aging face. MATERIALS AND METHODS Photographs of the right profile of 48 white females older than 55 years were recorded using standardized techniques. Each of the subjects' noses underwent computer-simulated rhinoplasty to conform to aesthetic canons of the ideal nose. Forty-eight evaluators, blinded to the purpose of the study, were shown either the natural right profile or the morphed image. The evaluators then estimated subject age. RESULTS Evaluators were divided into younger and older cohorts. Computer-simulated rhinoplasty alone did not prove to be statistically rejuvenating (Hotelling-Lawley Trace, P = .203). This finding held true for both the younger and older cohort of evaluators (P = .98). Although not statistically significant, evaluators estimated the age of the morphed images to be 6.5 years (mean) younger than actual age for all subjects. CONCLUSIONS Rhinoplasty alone is not statistically rejuvenating in the profile view of white females older than 55 years. However, age estimation may be less accurate than was hypothesized for the profile view, possibly because of other visual queues.