A longitudinal study of the growth of the nasopharynx and its contents in normal children

Abstract

The areas of the nasopharynx and its contents have been measured on the lateral cephalometric radiographs of 41 normal children who had been examined at yearly intervals for a minimum of 12 years between the ages of three and 19. The means and standard deviations of the areas of the nasopharynx, the soft tissues and the airway have been calculated for each year from three to 11 and for alternate years to age 19. The size and shape of the soft tissues of individual children are shown to vary from year to year, and the anterior convexity changes to a concave shape with maturity. The soft tissues appear to grow more rapidly from three to five than does the nasopharynx, with a consequent decrease in size of the airway at this period. Subsequently the soft tissue area remains relatively constant whilst the nasopharynx increases in size so that the airway progressively enlarges. There is a significant difference between the sexes in nasopharyngeal area from 13 onwards (p less than 0.005).

Maxillary Protraction Appliance Effect on the Size of the Upper Airway Passage

“…[4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13] Some studies investigated the effects of growth and development on airway passage dimensions. [32][33][34][35][36] Other studies investigated the pharyngeal size in the subjects having different ANB angles and rotational patterns. 15,37 Taylor et al 34 carried out a longitudinal study on 16 male and 16 female subjects to describe the pattern of bony and soft tissue growth of the oropharynx.…”

Obstructive Sleep Apnea in Children: Implications for the Developing Central Nervous System

“…Similarly, tonsils will grow in early childhood. Previous observations suggested that tonsillar and adenoidal tissue enlarge at a faster rate than the bony structures of the nasopharynx during early childhood, and therefore would result in an overall reduction in the upper airway diameter during early childhood (29). However, in healthy non-snoring children, the growth of such tissues is actually proportionate to the somatic growth of the airway, and therefore any deviation from such anticipated growth trajectories would essentially be abnormal (30).…”

İskeletsel Sınıf III Maloklüzyonun Alt Gruplarında Yumuşak Damak Morfolojisi ve Nazofarengeal Havayolu

“…Jeans et al (18) reported that the nasopharyngeal dimensions continue to grow rapidly until 13 years of age (18), and then slow until adulthood (19,20).In this study; the age range was 10.50-16.50 years (with an average of 13.26 years) which ensures that the oropharyngeal structures had almost reached adult size.…”

“…Nazofarengeal boyutlar›n 13 yafl›na kadar h›zla geliflti¤i (18), daha sonra eriflkin döne-me kadar yavafllayarak devam etti¤ini belirtilmifltir (19,20). Çal›flmam›za dahil olan bireylerin yafl aral›¤› 10.50-16.50 aras›ndad›r (ortalama 13.26).…”