MRI Assessment of Normal Adult Upper Airway

Objective: To measure the normal upper airway dimension of adults in middle-south China on MRI and to establish the normal diagnosis criterions of upper airway stricture.Methods: The upper airways of 182 normal adults were scanned by MR scanning.The area and dimension of palate,uvula,lingua and epiglottis region were studied,and the retropharyngeal thicknesses was (evaluated) too.The normal extent of every variable was determined by unilateral 95% confidence interval.Results: The coronary diameter was larger than sagittal dimension of most upper airway across the section at different levels.Except palate region,there were significant differences in most of variables between male and female.The normal extents of upper airway variable were established in males and females respectively.Conclusion: The MRI assessment of normal adult upper airway can give an objective criterion to the diagnosis of occupying lesions in upper airway and the accurate location in OSAS patients.