title: Gender-related difference in the upper airway dimensions and hyoid bone position in Chinese Han children and adolescents aged 6-18 years using cone beam computed tomography.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the gender-related differences in upper airway dimensions and hyoid bone position in Chinese Han children and adolescents (6-18 years) using cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT).
  
  
  METHODS
  CBCT-scans of 119 boys and 135 girls were selected and divided into four groups (group 1: 6-9 years; group 2: 10-12 years; group 3: 13-15 years; group 4: 16-18 years). The airway dimensions including the cross-sectional area (CSA), anteroposterior (AP) and lateral (LAT) width, length (L), mean CSA and volume (VOL) of upper airway segmentations and hyoid bone position including 11 linear and three angular measurements were investigated using Materialism's interactive medical image control system (MIMICS) 16.01 software. Gender-related differences were analyzed by two independent sample t-tests.
  
  
  RESULTS
  No gender-related difference was found in values of the facial morphology, airway dimensions and hyoid bone position for group 1 (p > 0.05). The children and adolescents in groups 2, 3 and 4 showed significant gender-related differences in the measurement results of facial morphology, airway dimensions and hyoid bone positions (p < 0.05). What's more, the measurement values of boys were obviously larger than those of girls except some measurements in group 2.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The measurements of airway dimensions and hyoid bone positions have gender-related differences in children and adolescents aged 10-18 years. These results could be taken into consideration during orthodontic diagnosis and treatment.
authors: Department of Orthodontics, Shangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Oral Biomedicine, School of Dentistry, Shandong University , Jinan City , PR China.
authors: Ying-Ying
authors: YY
authors: Jiang
authors: Xin
authors: X
authors: Xu
authors: Hong-Li
authors: HL
authors: Su
authors: Dong-Xu
authors: DX
authors: Liu
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D019412:Anatomy, Cross-Sectional / Q000379:methods; D002508:Cephalometry / Q000379:methods; D002648:Child; D002681:China / Q000208:ethnology; D054893:Cone-Beam Computed Tomography / Q000379:methods*; D004825:Epiglottis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D005006:Ethnicity; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006928:Hyoid Bone / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D007013:Hypopharynx / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D009295:Nasal Bone / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D009305:Nasopharynx / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D009960:Oropharynx / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D010159:Palate / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D010609:Pharyngeal Muscles / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D010614:Pharynx / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D012737:Sex Factors; D014059:Tongue / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D014609:Uvula / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging
keywords: Chinese children and adolescents; cone-beam computed tomography; hyoid bone position; upper airway dimensions