Lop ears: a retrospective study

Congenital “lop ears” are a deformity include varying degrees of turning down (lidding) of the helix, reduction
in the fossa triangularis, scapha compression, reduction of the superior crus of the antihelix and an associated
reduction in vertical height of the external ear. Aim of this retrospective study is to assess the clinical outcome
in a series of patients affected lop ears and discuss the pertinent literature. In the period between January 2003
and December 2009, 32 patients underwent to lop ears correction at the Pediatric Surgery Unit, S Anna Hospital,
Ferrara, Italy. Patients included 4 (33.3%) females and 8 (66.6%) males. Age ranged from 5.6 to 18 years with a
mean value of 11 at the time of admission. Lop ears were treated with Mustarde’ surgical technique under general
anesthesia. No complications were detected in the follow-up period. The goal standard of surgery treatment for
prominent ears is to obtain symmetrical and natural ears with not sign of being operated. More than 200 surgical
techniques have been described for its correction indicating the lack of an ideal technique. These techniques can be
classiied into two categories: with conservation of cartilage and with cartilage section. Section methods attend to
eliminate the inherent memory of the cartilage so that the shape of the ear can be modiied. These techniques may
leave signiicant asymmetries. In contrast, methods which shape the cartilage are based on the Mustardé technique,
which consists of placing 3 or 4 horizontal mattress sutures with permanent suture material along the ridge of the
helix, to create an antihelix fold. Our clinical results are similar to those reported in the English literature.