Sexual differences in costal cartilage size: Implications for facial reconstruction

Reconstruction of the face often requires the grafting of costal cartilage. The size of the facial defect determines the size and shape of cartilage needed to be harvested. Because females and males have differing facial size and shape, sex must be taken into consideration with regard to cartilage need. While myriad information exists that describes facial sexual dimorphism, little information exists regarding sexual dimorphism of costal cartilage. Therefore, this study assessed 312 costal cartilages from the most commonly harvested levels (i.e., fifth, sixth, and seventh rib cartilages) from 20 female and 32 male cadaveric ribcages for anatomical comparison. The fifth costal cartilage offers the smallest measurements in terms of area and length (Mean ± SD) for both females (1119 ± 248.8 mm 2 and 69.48 ± 10.29 mm) and males (1525 ± 353.1 mm 2 and 79.67 ± 14.62 mm). The seventh costal cartilage offers the largest surface area and total length measurements among both sexes (Females: 1836 ± 271.1 mm 2 and 123.4 ± 14.62 mm; Males: 2390 ± 409.3 mm 2 and 137.5±20.49 mm, respectively). Measurements of male cartilages were consistently larger than those of females in nearly all parameters studied. However, there was no significant difference between the sternum‐to‐curve length of the 5th cartilage (t(50) = 1.579; p = 0.1205) or the rib‐to‐curve length of the 7th cartilage between sexes (t(50) = 0.9609; p = 0.3412). In summary, females can afford, on average, less cartilage to harvest than males. The information provided in this study will aid surgeons in making informed decisions in their pre‐surgical planning of costal cartilage harvesting and grafting. Support or Funding Information West Virginia University Initiation to Research Opportunities (WVU – INTRO); WV Research Challenge Fund [HEPC.dsr.17.06] and [HEPC.dsr.14.13] This abstract is from the Experimental Biology 2018 Meeting. There is no full text article associated with this abstract published in The FASEB Journal .