Morphology of upper airway and surrounding tissues in non-apnea males aged seventy years or over: a magnetic resonance imaging study / 中华口腔医学杂志

ABSTRACT

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To describe the morphology of upper airway in non-apnea males aged seventy years or over.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Thirty-one non-apnea males aged 70 years or over [diagnosed by whole-night polysomnography (PSG), apnea and hypopnea index (AHI) < 10 per hour] had been taken magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanning.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The narrowest point of upper airway was at velopharynx. The mean and the minimum section areas were (190.9 +/- 67.1) mm(2) and (112.1 +/- 47.7) mm(2), respectively. Each sagittal/transverse ratio was between 0.22 and 0.89. It showed an ellipse-like cross-section of upper airway, while velopharynx was the most "slender" segment (sagittal/transverse-caliber was 0.22 - 0.71). The min/max section area of upper airway was between 0.38 and 0.62. It demonstrated that each airway segment was a "cone-like" form, while the velopharynx was the steepest segment.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>In the non-apnea elderly males aged seventy years or over, the velopharynx was most likely to collapse.</p>