Özet:
The pharyngeal airway is an anatomical region that can be
affected by orthognathic surgery. Accurate prediction of
pharyngeal airway changes before orthognathic surgery is
important for surgical treatment planning. Aim. The aim of
this study was to evaluate the reliability of two dimensional
pharyngeal airway prediction method on orthognathic surgery patients have different skeletal patterns. Material
and methods. The study included 25 orthognathic surgery
patients (18 skeletal Class III and seven skeletal Class II).
Airway predictions were made with Dolphin Imaging software
(Version 11.0) and compared with lateral cephalograms
taken at least six months after orthognathic surgery.
Arnett/Gunson FAB (face, airway, bite) analysis was used
for pharyngeal airway prediction. Intra-group evaluation
was made with Paired-t test, and independent-t test was
used for inter-group evaluation. Results. In Class II group
Soft palate length (Spl), Oropharyngeal airway (Opa) and
Nasopharyngeal airway (Npa) measurements were predicted
similar with postoperative cephalometric results
(P>0.05), although significant differences were found in
Hypopharyngeal airway (Hpa) and Deeppharyngeal airway
(Dpa) (P<0.05). In Class III group Npa, Opa and Hpa regions
were predicted statistically different from the actual results
(P<0.05). Conclusion. The pharyngeal airway space
prediction made by FAB analysis of the 2D Dolphin Imaging
software was found to be more consistent with the
postoperative results in skeletal Class II orthognathic surgery
patients compared to skeletal Class III orthognathic
surgery patients. In orthognathic surgery planning, the
skeletal pattern of the patients and airway changes should
be considered.