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Lookup NU author(s): Dr Andrew SimsORCiD, Emerita Professor Janet WilsonORCiD
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Objectives: Define differences in palatal and uvular dimensions between habitual snorers and healthy nonsnoring control subjects. Document the changes in palatal configuration after different types of palatoplasty. Study Design: A prospective controlled clinical study was performed analyzing video recordings of the soft palate and oropharynx of 251 subjects (121 habitual snorers, 79 patients after laser-assisted uvulopalatoplasty ([LAUP], and 51 healthy volunteers). Methods: The recordings were captured using a rigid endoscope with a reference measure applied to the soft palate and a mark at the junction of the soft and hard palate. Four parameters were studied in the captured pictures after correction for the distortion deformity in fiberoptic endoscopic images: 1) length of soft palate, 2) length of uvula, 3) width of uvula, and 4) distance between posterior pillars. Results: Analysis showed that habitual snorers, compared with healthy volunteers have significantly increased soft palate length (P = .00001), increased uvula length (P = .0002) and width (P = .00001), and narrowed oropharyngeal isthmus (distance between the posterior pillars) (P = .04). In patients studied after LAUP, the length of the soft palate is significantly shorter (P = .00001) than in the preoperative cohort, and the oropharyngeal isthmus is significantly narrower (P = .00001). Moreover, this latter distance is significantly narrower (P = .00001) when compared with healthy volunteers. Conclusions: Habitual snorers have a long soft palate, a long wide uvula, and a narrowed oropharyngeal isthmus. LAUP shortens and tightens the elongated palate and causes a further reduction in the space between the posterior pillars.
Author(s): Reda M, Sims AJ, Collins MM, McKee GJ, Marshall H, Kelly PJ, Wilson JA
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: Laryngoscope
Year: 1999
Volume: 109
Issue: 10
Pages: 1655-1660
Print publication date: 01/10/1999
ISSN (print): 0023-852X
ISSN (electronic): 1531-4995
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/00005537-199910000-00020
DOI: 10.1097/00005537-199910000-00020
PubMed id: 10522938
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