A three‐dimensional evaluation of the upper airway in adolescents

Abstract

Authors– Aboudara CA, Hatcher D, Nielsen IL, Miller A The link between the facial growth and airway function has been a subject of controversy in orthodontics for many years. This study investigates how well lateral cephalometric headfilms depict three‐dimensional upper airway structures. Subjects are 11 normal adolescent children, ages 7–16 years old. Airway information over the same anatomic area in the nasopharynx is compared between lateral cephalometric headfilms and three‐dimensional cone beam computed tomography (CT) scans. Intra‐subject proportion of airway volume to area shows moderate variability. CT airway volume shows more variability than corresponding headfilm airway area.