What is microtia? Microtia, known abroad as Microtia, is meant to be distinguished from simple microtia because it is a syndrome, which means that microtia is necessarily accompanied by some other deformities, such as atresia of the external auditory canal, malformation of the middle ear and developmental malformations of the jaws, nerves and muscles and soft tissues on the affected side. This is due to the fact that both the development of the auricle and the development of the jaws are derived from the same area during the embryonic period. Of course, the location and severity of the deformity vary, and the presentation of the deformity after birth and in adulthood varies, so does the severity of the combination of other deformities. What are the causes of microtia? The cause of microtia is a major concern for all parents of children with the condition, but unfortunately, there is still controversy as to the mechanism of its development, and there is no realistic way of knowing the exact cause. In general terms, it may be related to the individual, the family and society, such as genetics, pollution, lifestyle habits, the difficulty of prenatal screening and the lack of social awareness of the disease, so there is no need to condemn or suspect each other within the family. In general, microtia does exist in some small families, i.e. small familial inheritance, but in general there is no clear genetic basis for the disease, which means that it is not certain that it is inherited from previous generations and will not be easily passed on, so don’t bother worrying about it any more than you have to. How is microtia treated? The core of microtia treatment is auricular reconstruction, which is really a staged procedure of autologous rib cartilage transplantation promoted by Dr. Tanzer in the 1950s. In the 1990s, Prof. Nakata of Japan improved the procedure again by changing the earlobe transfer to a pre-post approach and enhancing the treatment of the ear screen, making this method more suitable for the Oriental race. These two major reforms also established the academic status of the two current titans of ear reconstruction mentioned above. In the 1980s, Professor Zhuang Hongxing of the Union Plastic Surgery Hospital in China synthesized the advantages of Professor Brent’s method and dilators and created the posterior ear expansion method of ear reconstruction, and achieved the title of the most ear reconstruction surgeries in the world, making him the world’s leading ear reconstruction surgeon. Recently, Prof. Guo Shuzhong of Xijing Hospital and Dr. Park of Korea have also achieved good surgical results by using the full postauricular expansion method with autologous rib cartilage stent ear reconstruction. These are the most important ear reconstruction treatment modalities available. In the 1990s, the advent of Teflon stents provided an alternative to artificial ear scaffolds, while the boom in tissue engineering and the advent of 3D printing technology made the realization of a true artificial ear even more promising. What is the best time to treat microtia? The auricle has its own unique developmental pattern. Generally, the auricle of a 3-year-old child can reach 85% of the adult size, and around the age of 10, it reaches the adult size and almost stops growing. 5-10 years old children already have the same size of the earlobe as adults, except that the cartilage is slightly smaller than adults. Therefore, in order to avoid early psychological development of the child, the current treatment view is that 6 – 10 years of age is a reasonable time to treat ear reconstruction. The most important factor affecting reconstructive surgery is also the strength of the developing rib cartilage, which is not sufficiently developed at too young an age, so some doctors also believe that the best age for treatment is between 10 and 14 years old. What