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Relationship between the pharyngeal airway space and craniofacial morphology, taking into account head posture.

Muto T, Yamazaki A, Takeda S, Kawakami J, Tsuji Y, Shibata T, Mizoguchi I

Department of Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery, School of Dentistry, Health Sciences University of Hokkaido, Ishikari-Tobetsu 1757, Japan. muto@hoku-iryo-u.ac.jp

This study assessed the relationship between craniofacial characteristics and the size of the pharyngeal airway space (PAS), taking into account head posture. Sixty dental students 25-30 years of age (30 men and 30 women) were examined by lateral cephalometry. The data were corrected with the use of appropriate regression equations for the PAS. The PAS significantly correlated with hyoid position, maxillary and mandibular size, maxillary and mandibular prognathism, and mandibular inclination. A large, anteriorly positioned mandible was associated with a large PAS-TP (the most proximal distance between the posterior pharyngeal wall and the tongue base). Uvula length and PNS-Ba (the distance between the most posterior point of the hard palate and the most inferior point of the anterior foramen magnum) correlated with PAS-UP (the most proximal distance between the posterior pharyngeal wall and uvula). Our results suggest that the anteroposterior dimension of the PAS is substantially affected by the size of the enclosure surrounding the PAS, including the maxilla, mandible and soft palate.

Published 17 January 2006 in Int J Oral Maxillofac Surg, 35(2): 132-6.
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