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Published on: August 7, 2017
Developing pediatric three-dimensional upper airway normative values using fixed and interactive thresholds
Ahmed I Masoud1,2, Farhan H Alwadei3, Abdurahman H Alwadei4
1Department of Orthodontics, Faculty of Dentistry, King Abdulaziz University, PO Box 80209, Jeddah, 21589, Saudi Arabia. aemasoud@kau.edu.sa.
Objective:
To develop and compare pediatric upper airway three-dimensional normative values using the two most commonly used cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) software: Invivo5 (fixed threshold) and Dolphin 3D (interactive threshold).
Study Design:
Out of 3738 CBCT scans, scans of 81 pediatric patients were utilized after applying strict exclusion criteria. The sample was grouped into two age groups (7-11 and 12-17 years). Intra-class correlation coefficient was used to test intra-rater and inter-rater reliability and showed coefficients greater than 0.9 indicating good reliability of the methods used.
Results:
Paired t tests showed that volumetric and area measurements obtained using Dolphin 3D were significantly larger than those obtained using Invivo5 (p < 0.05). The mean minimal cross-sectional areas (MCSA) for Dolphin 3D were 151 mm2 and 177 mm2 for age groups 1 and 2, respectively. The mean MCSA values for Invivo5 for age groups 1 and 2 were 120 mm2 and 145 mm2, respectively.
Conclusion:
Pediatric upper airway volumetric, area, and linear measurements were reported after applying strict exclusion criteria including a validated sleep questionnaire. Our goal is that clinicians utilize the proposed-here normative values for screening and assist in the timely diagnosis and management of pediatric sleep apnea.
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