Change of Nasal Dimension and Resistance with Aging in Korean

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: It is often observed that the nasal cavity becomes atrophic with old age. However, there is no exact data that prove senile atrophic changes in the nasal cavity. Thus we evaluated the effect of aging on the dimension and the resistance of the nasal cavity. SUBJECTS AND METHOD: One hundred twelve healthy subjects free of nasal diseases were included in this study. Acoustic rhinometry and rhinomanometry were performed before and after nasal decongestion. The subjects were classified into 6 age groups and cross-sectional area (CSA) measured by acoustic rhinometry and the total nasal resistance were analyzed by rhinomanometry among each group. RESULTS: The average value of CSA at the nasal valve area increased slightly with age. However, there was no significant difference before and after nasal decongestion. The average values of CSA at the attachment of the inferior turbinate before and after decongestion were on the increase with age. However, the difference of CSA between pre- and post-decongestion did not change significantly with age. Rhinomanometry showed that nasal resistance markedly decreased from twenties and thirties but did not change significantly after the thirty decade. CONCLUSION: The dimension of nasal cavity increases and the nasal resistance decreases with age. The increased dimension of the nasal cavity in old age might be attributed to the structural change such as bony atrophy rather than mucosal change