[Morphology of upper airway and surrounding tissues in non-apnea males aged seventy years or over: a magnetic resonance imaging study].
OBJECTIVE
To describe the morphology of upper airway in non-apnea males aged seventy years or over.


METHODS
Thirty-one non-apnea males aged 70 years or over [diagnosed by whole-night polysomnography (PSG), apnea and hypopnea index (AHI) < 10 per hour] had been taken magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanning.


RESULTS
The narrowest point of upper airway was at velopharynx. The mean and the minimum section areas were (190.9 +/- 67.1) mm(2) and (112.1 +/- 47.7) mm(2), respectively. Each sagittal/transverse ratio was between 0.22 and 0.89. It showed an ellipse-like cross-section of upper airway, while velopharynx was the most "slender" segment (sagittal/transverse-caliber was 0.22 - 0.71). The min/max section area of upper airway was between 0.38 and 0.62. It demonstrated that each airway segment was a "cone-like" form, while the velopharynx was the steepest segment.


CONCLUSIONS
In the non-apnea elderly males aged seventy years or over, the velopharynx was most likely to collapse.
Department of Orthodontics, Peking University School and Hospital of Stomatology, Beijing 100081, China.
Jing
J
Guo
Xue-mei
XM
Gao
Xiang-long
XL
Zeng
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D010160:Palate, Soft / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D010614:Pharynx / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D017286:Polysomnography; D020181:Sleep Apnea, Obstructive; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014059:Tongue / Q000033:anatomy & histology*