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Comparative Study
. 2008 Aug;106(2):275-84.
doi: 10.1016/j.tripleo.2008.03.024. Epub 2008 Jun 13.

Cervical CT derived neck fat tissue distribution differences in Japanese males and females and its effect on retroglossal and retropalatal airway volume

Yuko Shigeta  1 , Reyes Enciso, Takumi Ogawa, Tomoko Ikawa, Glenn T Clark
Affiliations
Comparative Study

Cervical CT derived neck fat tissue distribution differences in Japanese males and females and its effect on retroglossal and retropalatal airway volume

Yuko Shigeta et al. Oral Surg Oral Med Oral Pathol Oral Radiol Endod. 2008 Aug.

Abstract

Objective: The objective of this study was to investigate the difference of neck fat tissue distribution by sex and its correlation with retropalatal and retroglossal airway.

Study design: A total of 38 consecutive patients (male: 19; female: 19) who received a CT scan were compared in the retroglossal region and at the narrowest cross section of the airway. Retroglossal fat tissue volume (FV) was segmented with Amira software and separated into subcutaneous and internal fat volume (SFV, IFV). These volumes were normalized by retroglossal neck volume (NV).

Results: Men had 51.9% more IFV/NV and 64.4% less SFV/NV compared with women. Age-adjusted BMI was negatively correlated with retroglossal airway volume (normalized by NV) and with the lateral width of the smallest cross-section airway (LW) in females. In males the IFV/NV was negatively correlated with LW, after adjusting for BMI and age.

Conclusion: Upper airway collapsibility analysis is needed to rule out whether increased BMI or IFV causes an increase in airway collapsibility.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Retroglossal region investigated in this paper: CT slices were 1mm a part between the tip of the soft palate (A) and the top of epiglottis (B).
Figure 2
Figure 2
The distance of the narrowest airway cross-section from the tip of the uvula (A), and the results of the t-test comparing this distance in men versus women (B).
Figure 3
Figure 3
Segmentation (left) and 3D reconstruction (right) for retroglossal neck volume (NV), airway volume (AWV), and fat volume (FV) subdivided in subcutaneous fat volume (SFV) and internal fat volume (IFV).
Figure 4
Figure 4
CT values in Hounsfield units used in this investigation to segment retroglossal neck volume (NV), and airway volume (AWV). Retroglossal fat volume (FV) was then segmented from the NV using CT values between −50HU and −200 HU.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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