The airflow resistance profile of healthy nasal cavities.
Distribution of resistance to respiratory airflow in the nasal cavities was determined by digitized pressure/flow measurements of consecutive 2-cm airway segments between nostril and nasopharynx. Healthy adult subjects seated in a head-out body plethysmograph breathed exclusively through a single nasal cavity while transnasal pressure and flow signals were transduced, digitized and processed by a programmed desk-top computer to provide resistance values. Mean total resistances of untreated and decongested single nasal cavities were 0.44 (n = 30; SD +/- 0.25) and 0.26 (n = 15; SD +/- 0.06) Pa/cm3/s, respectively. The proportion of total airway resistance of successive 2-cm segments from nostril to nasopharynx was 56%, 22%, 16%, and 6% in the untreated nose, and 88%, 5%, 2%, and 5% following decongestion. The findings from 45 nasal cavities are consistent with previous pressure/flow measurements from six nasal cavities and support recent acoustic reflection assessments of nasal cross-sectional areas of both untreated and decongested noses.
Hirschberg
A
A
Semmelweis Medical School, Department of Otolaryngology/Head and Neck Surgery, Budapest, Hungary.
Roithmann
R
R
Parikh
S
S
Miljeteig
H
H
Cole
P
P
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000403:Airway Resistance; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009296:Nasal Cavity / Q000502:physiology*; D014663:Nasal Decongestants / Q000494:pharmacology; D009305:Nasopharynx / Q000502:physiology; D011312:Pressure; D012123:Pulmonary Ventilation; D012984:Software
D014663:Nasal Decongestants