Cephalometric Examination of Soft Palate, Hyoid and Upper Airway Anatomy in Obstructive Sleep Apnea Syndrome Patients

Elif Çelik; Fatih Çelik; Edhem Ünver; Erdal Karavaş; Samih Diyarbakır

doi:10.7126/cumudj.1592867

EN

Cephalometric Examination of Soft Palate, Hyoid and Upper Airway Anatomy in Obstructive Sleep Apnea Syndrome Patients

Abstract

Objectives: In this study, soft palate dimensions, hyoid bone position in relation to the mandibular plane and C3 vertebrae, and upper airway widths were measured on lateral cephalograms of patients diagnosed with simple snoring and obstructive sleep apnea syndrome of different severities by polysomnography. It was aimed to investigate whether increased apnea severity is associated with these anatomical formations which are important in the dental clinic. Materials and Methods: Our study was designed as a retrospective data analysis of 182 patients, 78 females and 104 males. In our study, patients were divided into four groups: patients with simple snoring with an Apnea-Hipopnea index (AHI) value below 5, patients with mild OSAS with an AHI value of 5-15, patients with moderate OSAS with an AHI value of 15-30 and patients with severe OSAS with an AHI value above 30. Measurements obtained from lateral cephalograms were compared between these groups. Results: Statistically significant narrowing was observed in all other groups compared to the control group in oropharyngeal width values in upper airway measurements (P<0.05). The distance between the hyoid and mandibular plane was significantly lower in the control group than in the severe OSAS group (P=0.001). A statistically significant elongation of the soft palate was also observed in patients with OSAS compared to the control group (P<0.05). Conclusions: Our findings support that the position of the hyoid bone is important in the diagnosis of OSAS. Furthermore, a significant correlation was found between soft palate length and OSAS. These results suggest that surgical techniques such as maxillary advancement or mandibular advancement, or both, to increase airway width may be effective in the treatment of OSAS.

Keywords

References

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Details

Primary Language

English

Subjects

Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery , Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology

Journal Section

Research Article

Authors

Elif Çelik ^*
0000-0002-5059-9432
Türkiye

Fatih Çelik
0000-0001-6806-8480
Türkiye

Edhem Ünver
0000-0002-0322-8102
Türkiye

Erdal Karavaş
0000-0001-6649-3256
Türkiye

Samih Diyarbakır
0000-0001-6755-7741
Türkiye

Publication Date

March 28, 2025

Submission Date

November 28, 2024

Acceptance Date

December 30, 2024

Published in Issue

Year 2025 Volume: 28 Number: 1

DOI

https://doi.org/10.7126/cumudj.1592867

IZ

https://izlik.org/JA93PM47AF

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RIS / Bibtex

EndNote

Çelik E, Çelik F, Ünver E, Karavaş E, Diyarbakır S (March 1, 2025) Cephalometric Examination of Soft Palate, Hyoid and Upper Airway Anatomy in Obstructive Sleep Apnea Syndrome Patients. Cumhuriyet Dental Journal 28 1 79–87.

Öz

Cephalometric Examination of Soft Palate, Hyoid and Upper Airway Anatomy in Obstructive Sleep Apnea Syndrome Patients

Abstract

Keywords

References

Details

Primary Language

Subjects

Journal Section

Authors

Publication Date

Submission Date

Acceptance Date

Published in Issue

DOI

IZ

Cite