Developmental changes in nasal airflow patterns.
Airflow through each nasal passage was measured every 10 min throughout a 5-h period in 48 subjects whose ages ranged from 3 to 17 years. The data were subjected to statistical techniques that characterize and quantify periodicities in a time series. Such analyses revealed that for the majority of children younger than 7 years of age, the airflow through the two nostrils changed either randomly (50%) or in parallel (31%). Between the ages of 7 and 10 years, however, the distribution of airflow patterns characteristic of adults emerged, such that the incidence of reciprocity increased to 63%, and the incidence of random and parallel patterns decreased to 31% and 6%, respectively. A similar distribution was evidenced in the 11- to 17-year-old subjects (56% reciprocal, 38% random, 6% parallel). Although the total airflow through the nose also increased with age, the increased inspiratory flow rates could not account for the developmental changes evidenced in airflow patterns.
Mennella
J A
JA
Monell Chemical Senses Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Beauchamp
G K
GK
D000293:Adolescent; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology*; D000403:Airway Resistance / Q000502:physiology*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008365:Manometry; D009666:Nose / Q000254:growth & development / Q000502:physiology*; D010507:Periodicity