[The tragus as a donor area of cartilage grafts: anatomic study].
The ear is one of the main donor sites of cartilage grafts. Usually, the main donor site of cartilage grafts in the ear is the conchae.


OBJECTIVE
This study proposes the removal of cartilage grafts also from the "lamina tragi" that is a part of the ear cartilage, specially in those situations where we can not use or we do not want to use the conchae.


METHODS
The cartilage of 40 ears was dissected and studied in 20 cadavers where the "lamina tragi" were measured.


RESULTS
The cartilage extracted from the "lamina tragi" was shown to be of a good size for cartilage grafts. The fragment obtained measured 13.8 mm in width, 21.4 mm in height and 1.6 mm in thickness on the average.


CONCLUSIONS
The cartilage graft obtained from the "lamina tragi" is a viable alternative, specially for rhinoplasties to correct the dorsum and the tip.
Ishida
L C
LC
Disciplina de Cirurgia Plástica da Universidade Federal de São Paulo, Escola Paulista de Medicina.
Pereira
M D
MD
Andrews
J M
JM
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002102:Cadaver; D004425:Ear Cartilage / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000637:transplantation*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged