Assessment of the cleft nasal deformity using a regression equation.

OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study is to propose an objective and simple method for assessing surgical outcomes of cleft nasal deformity using two-dimensional digital images. DESIGN Five plastic surgeons evaluated slides of 20 normal and 65 repaired cleft nasal deformities using the full range of values from 0 to 100 with 10-point intervals. Five laypersons rated 12 parameters per image from the same data set using the developed assessment tool. Correlation coefficients between the parameter values and the surgeons' grades were obtained to find the best matches, and a regression equation was formulated using those. The reproducibility of the proposed method used by the laypersons was compared with that of the subjective grades made by the surgeons. RESULTS The mean correlation coefficient among the evaluated grades by the five laypersons using the proposed method was higher (.90) than that for the subjectively determined grades from the five plastic surgeons (.80). The grade reproducibility of the patients by the laypersons (9.6%) was also better than that by the surgeons (14.6%). CONCLUSIONS The proposed assessment tool, including the regression equation, allows laypersons as well as surgeons to perform simple, reproducible, quantitative, and objective assessments of the surgical outcomes for cleft nasal deformity using two-dimensional photographs.