Two flaps and Z-plasty technique for correction of longitudinal ear lobe cleft  Paik-Kwon Lee, Hong-Sil Ju, Jong-Won Rhie, Sang-Tae Ahn  British Journal of Plastic Surgery  Volume 58, Issue 4, Pages 573-576 (June 2005) DOI: 10.1016/j.bjps.2004.06.014

Figure 1 Two-flaps-and-Z-plasty method. (A) Two rectangular flaps were designed along the margin of cleft lobes. (B) In the lateral lobe, the posteriorly based deepithelialised flap was elevated. In the medial lobe, the anteriorly based deepithelialised flap was created. (C) Each deepithelialised flap was fixed into the subcutaneous pockets, which were made on anterior surface of lateral lobe and the posterior surface of medial lobe. (D) A small Z-plasty was done at the ear lobe margin. British Journal of Plastic Surgery 2005 58, 573-576DOI: (10.1016/j.bjps.2004.06.014)

Figure 2 A 21-year-old woman with right ear lobe cleft deformity. (A) Preoperative lateral view. (B) Immediate postoperative view. (C) Eight months after operation shows excellent result. (D) Left unaffected normal ear lobe. British Journal of Plastic Surgery 2005 58, 573-576DOI: (10.1016/j.bjps.2004.06.014)

Figure 3 (A) A 24-year-old woman with left longitudinal ear lobe cleft. (B) Posteriorly based medial flap and anteriorly based lateral flap were designed. (C) Each flap was deepithelialised and subcutaneous pockets were formed to fit the deepithelialised flaps. (D) Three months after the operation show sufficient volume and a natural appearance. The small Z-plasty makes the ear lobe shape more smooth. (E) Right unaffected normal ear lobe. British Journal of Plastic Surgery 2005 58, 573-576DOI: (10.1016/j.bjps.2004.06.014)