Dr. Kyungseok Ko of ONUL Plastic Surgery Publishes Cleft Lip and Palate Surgery Research in Leading U.S. Journal

In September 2024, a research paper authored by Dr. Kyungseok Ko of ONUL Plastic Surgery was published in the official journal of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS)—widely regarded as the most prestigious journal in the field of plastic surgery.

Previously a leading cleft specialist at Asan Medical Center in Seoul, Dr. Ko joined ONUL Plastic Surgery and authored the study titled "Septal Reposition during Intermediate Cleft Rhinoplasty: A Second Chance for Correcting Caudal Septal Deviation." The paper presents research conducted on 77 pre-school-aged children with cleft lip, demonstrating that septal repositioning during intermediate cleft rhinoplasty can significantly improve the appearance of the lower nasal area in growing patients.

The journal in which the study was published is an SCIE-indexed academic publication recognized by the Institute for Scientific Information (ISI), boasting a high Impact Factor (IF) of 5.169—the highest among plastic surgery journals. Only studies that demonstrate academic depth and originality are selected for publication.

Through this research, Dr. Ko emphasized that even in growing patients, careful preservation and repositioning of the nasal septum can lead to highly favorable outcomes in cleft lip and palate reconstruction.