Anthropometry of the Saudi Arabian nose

Abstract

All previous studies on nasal anthropometry of Middle Eastern populations were done on Persian, Turkish, and North African populations; with no studies arising from the Arabic Gulf Region. This study aimed to define nasal anthropometric measurements in Saudi Arabia (the largest Arabic Gulf country) and compare them with different races. A total of 104 Saudi men and 105 Saudi women with a mean age of 22 years (range, 18-27 years) were included in the study. A total of 25 nasal anthropometric variables were measured. Comparison with other races was done using the t-test (P < 0.05 is considered significant). The intercanthal distance of Saudi men is significantly smaller than that in women (the reverse is true for other races). Hence, Saudi women (and not men) have significantly wider intercanthal distance than do whites. The nasal widths of Saudi men and women lie between the whites and the Chinese. A unique feature of the Saudi nose is the significantly larger nasofrontal angle of Saudi men and women compared with all other races. Within the Saudi race, the nasofacial angle of men is so much larger than that of women (41.4 vs 33.3 degrees). In other races, the difference between men and women is usually slight (0- to 1-mm difference only). In Saudi men, the nasofacial angle is significantly larger than that in whites, but the value for Saudi women is significantly smaller than that for whites. Finally, in both Saudi sexes, the nasal tip angle/nasal tip protrusion is significantly smaller than all other races. It was concluded that the Saudi nose has several unique features when compared with other races including other Middle Eastern populations. Copyright © 2012 by Mutaz B. Habal, MD.