Assessment of the uvulo-glossopharyngeal dimensions in patients with β-thalassemia major

Amini, Fariborz, Borzabadi Farahani, Ali, Behnam-Roudsari, Gilda, Jafari, Alireza and Shahidinejad, Fatemeh 2013. Assessment of the uvulo-glossopharyngeal dimensions in patients with β-thalassemia major. Sleep and Breathing 17 (3) , pp. 943-949. 10.1007/s11325-012-0782-3

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Abstract

Objectives Thalassemia patients present varying degrees of craniofacial characteristics, while the morphology of the upper airway is less studied. The purpose of this study was to compare the uvula-glossopharyngeal dimensions (UGDs) of patients with β-thalassemia major (BTM) with non-thalassemic subjects who had similarities in the maxillo-mandibular skeletal pattern. Subjects and methods The material for this cross-sectional retrospective study consisted of lateral cephalograms of 40 BTM patients (23 males, 17 females, aged 9.5 ± 0.97 years). These were compared with lateral cephalograms of a control group of 40 non-thalassemic subjects (23 males, 17 females, aged 11.0 ± 0.87 years). The control group was chosen so that they had similarities with the BTM patients in the following cephalometric variables: SNA (in degree), SNB (in degree), ANB (in degree), and anterior facial height (N-Me). Results The following UGDs in thalassemic subjects were significantly shorter in patients with BTM: tongue length (P < 0.05), the distance between the hyoid bone and the mandibular plane (P < 0.01), and the vertical distance between hyoid bone and the C3-RGN line (line connecting third vertebra and retrognathion) (P < 0.05). The middle airway space in BTM patients was significantly wider (P < 0.05), and a trend was observed for the wider inferior airway space (P = 0.07). Conclusions Based on this study, some UGDs in BTM patients were significantly different, compared to non-thalassemic subjects who had a similar maxillo-mandibular skeletal pattern. These findings may have implications for the long-term treatment of BTM patients; however, since groups were not exactly age-matched, the observed differences between groups could be attributed to either BTM, age, or both. Additional studies with age-matched subjects are needed to investigate the relationship between BTM and UGDs.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Dentistry
Publisher:	Springer
ISSN:	1520-9512
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	25 October 2024
Date of Acceptance:	22 October 2012
Last Modified:	22 Nov 2024 17:01
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/173354

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