title: Three-dimensional evaluation of the relationship between nasopharyngeal airway shape and adenoid size in children.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the shapes and sizes of nasopharyngeal airways by using cone-beam computed tomography and to assess the relationship between nasopharyngeal airway shape and adenoid hypertrophy in children.
  
  
  METHODS
  Linear and cross-sectional measurements on frontal and sagittal cross-sections containing the most enlarged adenoids and nasopharyngeal airway volumes were obtained from cone-beam computed tomography scans of 64 healthy children (11.0 ± 1.8 years), and the interrelationships of these measurements were evaluated.
  
  
  RESULTS
  On the basis of frontal section images, the subjects' nasopharyngeal airways were divided into the following 2 types: the broad and long type and the narrow and flat type. The nasopharyngeal airway sizes and volumes were smaller in subjects with narrow and flat airways than in those with broad and long airways (p < 0.01). Children who showed high adenoid-nasopharyngeal ratios on sagittal imaging, indicating moderate to severe adenoid hypertrophy, had the narrow and flat type nasopharyngeal airway (p < 0.01).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Cone-beam computed tomography is a clinically simple, reliable, and noninvasive tool that can simultaneously visualize the entire structure and a cross section of the nasopharyngeal airway and help in measurement of adenoid size as well as airway volume in children with adenoid hypertrophy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthodontics, Hallym University Kangdong Sacred Heart Hospital, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Kyung-Min
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Oh
authors.forename: Min-Ah
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Jong-Kuk
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Youn
authors.forename: Hyung-Jun
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Cho
authors.forename: Yang-Ho
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Park
keywords: Adenoid hypertrophy; Adenoid-nasopharyngeal ratio; Cone-beam computed tomography; Nasopharyngeal airway