Comparison of superior airway dimensions and cephalometric anatomic landmarks in 8 - 12 years old children with obstructive sleep apnea and healthy children using CBCT images

Abstract

Introduction: Etiology of obstructive sleep apnea syndrome in children shows a significant difference with adults. Considering that in the previous studies about OSA, only some of the indexes have been investigated using CBCT, the aim of this study was to examine all measurable indices of the airway dimensions and anatomical cephalometric landmarks in children with obstructive apnea Sleep by CBCT. Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out on CBCT scans of 50 children aged 8 to 12 years old (25 patients with OSA and 25 healthy subjects) who referred to Department of Oral & maxillofacial radiology, School of Dentistry, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences. CBCT images of children were examined in both control and patient groups and then in each image, the dimensions of the airway (including length, average volume, total volume, average cross-sectional area and the lowest anterior-posterior cross-sectional area), and landmarks including SNA, SNB, ANB, SN-MP, PP-MP, IMPA, BaSN and PNS-AD1, PNS-AD2 distances were measured from the images. The results of this study were conducted using SPSS 17 software and a significance level of P-value <0.05 was considered. Results: The findings of this study revealed that the area, the length, the volume, the anterior posterior length and the size of the upper airway were lower in subjects with OSA than in healthy subjects while the average size of SNA, SNB and ANB, IM / PA was higher in subjects with OSA than in healthy subjects. Also, in our study, the measurements of BaSN, PNS / AD1 and PNS / AD2 were lower in subjects with OSA than in healthy subjects. therefore a significant difference between the width of the upper airway, the anterior posterior length, SNB, IM / AP, BaSN and PNS / AD3 indices between the normal group and those with OSA (P-value <0.05). Conclusion: The final results of this study showed that the area and length of the upper airway were lower in children with OSA than in healthy subjects, which differed from that of adults in other studies. Perhaps these results could be used to diagnose children with OSA based on the anatomical dimensions of the upper airway.