title: [The correlation analysis of obstructive sleep apnea syndrome and the size of oropharyngeal cavity].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To explore the relationship between obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) and the size of oropharyngeal cavity.
  
  
  METHODS
  The distance from uvula basis to tongue, the distance between anterior and posterior tonsillar pillars and the uvula area were measured for 30 OSAS patients and 30 healthy controls.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The study data indicated that there was very significant difference between patients and healthy controls (P < 0.001). The results of correlation analysis indicated that there was a nagetive correlation between the distance from uvula basis to tongue, the distance from anterior to between posterior tonsillar pillars and apnea hypopnea index (AHI) (P < 0.05), but there was a positive correlation between uvula area and AHI (P < 0.01). The patient's height, weight were measured, the body mass index was positive correlation with AHI (P < 0.001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These observations suggest that the obesity, smaller pharyngerl area can play an important role in the pathogenesis of OSAS.
authors.affiliation: Zhejiang Provincial People's Hospital, Hangzhou 310014.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Pan
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yan
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009765:Obesity / Q000150:complications; D009960:Oropharynx / Q000473:pathology*; D020181:Sleep Apnea, Obstructive / Q000209:etiology*; D014609:Uvula / Q000473:pathology