Effects of maxillary distraction osteogenesis on the upper-airway size and nasal resistance in subjects with cleft lip and palate.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the short- and long-term effects of maxillary distraction osteogenesis (DOG) on the upper-airway size and nasal resistance in nine patients with cleft lip and palate (CLP).


METHODS
Changes in the upper-airway size were measured by using lateral cephalometric radiographs taken immediately before and after DOG, and 1 year later. Nasal resistance was measured with a rhinomanometer. An analysis of variance was used to establish statistical significance. Spearman correlation coefficient was used to evaluate the relationship between changes in the cross-sectional area of the upper airway and nasal resistance in association with DOG.


RESULTS
Immediately after DOG, the anteroposterior dimension of the superior part of the upper airway was significantly increased (p < 0.01) and nasal resistance was significantly decreased (p < 0.05). Moreover, the cross-sectional area of the total upper airway was significantly increased (p < 0.01). There was a significant correlation between the increase in the upper-airway cross-sectional area and the reduction in nasal resistance (p < 0.05). The upper-airway size was significantly augmented (p < 0.05) and nasal resistance was significantly reduced (p < 0.05) at 1 year after DOG compared with immediately before DOG.


CONCLUSIONS
An increase in the upper-airway size and a reduction in nasal resistance occurred after maxillary DOG in patients with CLP, and these changes were stable after 1 year.
Mochida
M
M
Maxillofacial Orthognathics, Graduate School, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, Japan.
Ono
T
T
Saito
K
K
Tsuiki
S
S
Ohyama
K
K
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000403:Airway Resistance / Q000502:physiology*; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D002508:Cephalometry; D002648:Child; D002971:Cleft Lip / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D002972:Cleft Palate / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008437:Maxilla / Q000601:surgery*; D009305:Nasopharynx / Q000473:pathology; D009666:Nose / Q000503:physiopathology*; D009960:Oropharynx / Q000473:pathology; D019857:Osteogenesis, Distraction; D010614:Pharynx / Q000473:pathology*; D025363:Rhinomanometry; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric