Proposed Cephalometric Diagnosis for Osteogenic Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA): The Mandibular/Pharyngeal Ratio

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this laboratory study is to devise a simple, diagnostic test to assess possible osteological deficiency as a probable cause of OSA. Modern day skulls of fifty males and forty eight females of Tuscan origin and an additional seventy-five skulls, from India, with their cephalograms were used for this study. Mandibular length and antero-posterior dimension of the nasopharynx—pharyngeal tubercle (PhT) to posterior nasal spine (PNS)—were measured on the Tuscan skulls. The nasopharynx was similarly measured on the Indian skulls and readings multiplied by 1.14, the magnification factor of the cephalometric apparatus used. The PhT-PNS distance was then plotted on the cephalogram of Indian skulls with point PhT at the basiocciput. The possible presence of an osteogenic etiology of OSA can be determined by comparison of the mandibular/pharyngeal ratio obtained from the skull cephalograms to that of the individual patient.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Rumy A. Hilloowala

Dr. Rumy A. Hilloowala is a dental graduate of the University of Bombay, India, has completed a year of post graduate training in Oral Surgery at the University of Pennsylvania and received his Ph.D. in Anatomy from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. He is currently a Professor of Anatomy at West Virginia University Health Sciences Center. Dr. Hilloowala's interests include research into craniofacial anatomy and the history of anatomy.

Roger B. Trent

Dr. Roger B. Trent holds a Ph.D. degree from the University of Washington, Seattle. Prior to his present position, he was a Professor of Sociology and Anthropology at West Virginia University. Currently, Dr. Trent is the Chief of Injury Surveillance and Epidemiology, California Department of Health Services. He is particularly interested in statistics and epidemiology.

Erdogan Gunel

Dr. Erdogan Gunel has a Ph.D. degree from the State University of New York, Buffalo. He is currently a Professor in the Department of Statistics, West Virginia University. Dr. Gunel's area of interest is biostatistics.

Robert G. Pifer

Dr. Robert G. Pifer is a graduate of the West Virginia University School of Dentistry and has a Master's degree in Oral Radiology from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Presently Dr. Pifer is Professor and Chairman of the Department of Oral Diagnostic Services at West Virginia University School of Dentistry.