Evaluation of pharyngeal airway space amongst different skeletal patterns

Comparison of pharyngeal airway volume among different vertical skeletal patterns: A cone-beam computed tomography study

“…The coefficients of reliability of the pharyngeal airway volume measurements in the present study were above 0.993, agreeing with the findings of previous studies 12,13,16,25,26 using CBCT. Several two-dimensional and 3D studies 8,9,[12][13][14]16,17,[24][25][26] have been performed to evaluate the relationship between airway and sagittal skeletal patterns. It was observed that patients with skeletal Class I and III had significantly larger pharyngeal airway volumes than patients with Class II.…”

“…It was observed that patients with skeletal Class I and III had significantly larger pharyngeal airway volumes than patients with Class II. 13,14,16 Although the ANB angle might be affected by the anteroposterior position of the nasion relative to the maxilla and mandible, 11,13,14,16 it was the most commonly used cephalometric measurement to determine sagittal relationship of the jaws. [8][9][10][11][12][13]15,17,26 Thus, we decided to use the ANB angle to define the sagittal relationship of the jaws and exclude its effect on pharyngeal airway volume.…”

“…4 A number of studies [5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17] have been published on the relationships between the pharyngeal airway and the facial pattern. However, most of the previous studies [5][6][7]11,14,15 were performed on lateral cephalometric films. Because lateral films represent three-dimensional (3D) structures in two dimensions that do not allow the evaluation of those structures' volumes, previous studies were limited.…”

“…Conebeam CT (CBCT) has become a well-accepted diagnostic imaging technique, especially because of its lower radiation doses and faster image acquisition times compared with CT. 20 Although a number of studies 9,10,[12][13][14]16,17 were performed to investigate the relationship between sagittal skeletal patterns and pharyngeal airway, the relationship between vertical growth patterns and pharyngeal airway was limited. 7,8,10,11,15 Within the limitations of those studies, 7,10,11,15 which were performed using lateral cephalometric films, an association between pharyngeal airway dimensions and vertical skeletal pattern was demonstrated.…”

“…In addition, sagittal skeletal pattern was not standardized in all vertical groups and included patients with skeletal Class I, II, and III malocclusions and no indication of how many patients had each type. Many authors 9,[12][13][14]16,17 have found that pharyngeal airway dimensions and/or volumes are affected by sagittal skeletal patterns. Thus, it seems that the findings reported previously might be affected by sagittal skeletal pattern distribution of the patients in each vertical group.…”