title: The nasopharyngeal soft tissue sign: a reappraisal.
abstract: An increase in the thickness of the soft tissues of the posterior nasopharyngeal wall has been described in patients with a fracture of the skull base (Andrew, 1978). Measurements of this soft tissue layer made in the same way, in Southampton, have shown a striking difference in the mean and in the normal range both in adolescents and adults. The normal measurements overlap those found in patients with a fracture of the skull base and the sign is not therefore a reliable indication of the presence of such a fracture.
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003238:Connective Tissue / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009305:Nasopharynx / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D011859:Radiography; D012016:Reference Values; D012887:Skull Fractures / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*