Characterization of the Upper Airway Morphology and Its Changes in the Apneic Patient Using Cone Beam Computed Tomography

Abstract

The "upper" airway, which is the most frequently analyzed portion in orthodontics and oral maxillofacial surgery, is divided anatomically into nasopharyix, oropharynx and the hypopharynx. This chapter summarizes several of the historical methods used to describe the airway, to discuss the limitations of these earlier methods, and to examine how new noninvasive low radiation dose and true 3D images enable the practitioner to better understand airway size, shape, and volume. Several initial investigations that have used this new technology to study the potential effects of clinical interventions on airway dimensional changes also are described. The airway parameters in healthy and apneic subje..