Background: Airway shape and dimensions have attracted attention during the past few decades; this can be attributed to the relationship between the upper airway configuration and sleep-disordered breathing and its relationship with craniofacial morphology in general. This study was conducted to 1. Compare the pharyngeal dimensions of subjects with different vertical growth patterns and 2. Assess the impact of modifying variables, like age and gender, on the airway dimensions.
Methods: Data collection was based on both cephalometric radiographs and patients' files analysis. Radiographs were grouped according to patients' ages, genders, and vertical growth patterns. Lateral cephalometric radiographs were taken using a standardized technique. The simple network management angle was used to divide the sample into hypodivergent, noromodivergent, hyperdivergent growth patterns with 38°, respectively. The upper and lower pharyngeal airway widths were measured by using McNamara's airway analysis.
Results: The widest upper and lower pharyngeal widths (LPWs) were found among hypodivergent subjects (20.1 ± 2.3 and 11.6 ± 4, respectively), and gender differences were found in the upper pharyngeal width (UPW) but in the lower (17.4 ± 3.4 and 18.1 ± 3.5, 10.1 ± 2.3 and 10.2 ± 3.1) for males and females in the upper and lower airways, respectively. Increasing the subject's ages significantly increased the UPW but did not affect the LPW.
Conclusion: Hypodivergent patients had a higher UPW and LPW compared to the noromodivergent and hyperdivergent growth patterns. Also, the UPW and LPW were slightly higher in females than in males and increasing age had significantly increased UPW but did not affect LPW.
Key words: Cephalometric radiographs, age, gender, vertical growth, airway dimensions
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