Assessment of pharyngeal airway volume in adolescent patients affected

Abstract

Objective: To test the null hypothesis that there were no significant differences for pharyngeal airway volumes between the adolescent patients affected by bilateral cleft lip and palate (BCLP) and well-matched controls using cone beam computed tomography.

Materials and Methods: The study sample consisted of 16 patients (11 female and 5 male; mean [SD] age 14.1 [2.1] years) affected by BCLP and 16 patients (10 female and 6 male; mean [SD] age 13.4 [2.0] years) as age- and sex-matched control group. Craniofacial measurements and pharyngeal airway dimension, area, and volume measurements of patients in both groups were calculated and statistically examined using Student's t-test and multiple linear regression analyses.

Results: Statistically significant differences were found between the BCLP and control groups for SNB (P <.05), SN-GoGn (P <.05), Co-A (P <.05), PAS (P <.01), minAx (P <.01), and oropharyngeal airway volume (P <.05). The most predictive variables for oropharyngeal airway volume were found as PAS (r =.655 and P =.000) and minAx (r =.787 and P =.000).

Conclusions: The null hypothesis was rejected. Oropharyngeal (P <.05) and total (P>.05) airway volumes were found to be less in the BCLP group, and thus the treatment choice in these patients should have positive effects on the pharyngeal airway.

C1 [Celikoglu, Mevlut] Karadeniz Tech Univ, Fac Dent, Dept Orthodont, Trabzon, Turkey.

[Ucar, Faruk I.] Selcuk Univ, Fac Dent, Dept Orthodont, Konya, Turkey.

[Sekerci, Ahmet E.; Sisman, Yildiray] Erciyes Univ, Fac Dent, Dept Oral & Maxillofacial Radiol, Kayseri, Turkey.

[Buyuk, Suleyman K.] Erciyes Univ, Fac Dent, Dept Orthodont, Kayseri, Turkey.

[Ersoz, Mustafa] Inonu Univ, Fac Dent, Dept Orthodont, Malatya, Turkey.