OBJECTIVETo explore the relationship ol lingual region upper airway stricture and lingua-palate position type in obstructive sleep apnea hypopnea syndrome (OSAHS) patients.

METHODSOne hundred patients with OSAHS were included in the study and divided into 4 groups by lingua-palate age, AHI, BMI and lowest SaO2, the dimensions and area of lingual region airway, the thickness of retropharyngeal and lateral pharyngeal tissue, the tongue width, tongue length and tongue area were compared among four groups. The multinomial step regression process was performed with SPSS software to explore the effects of lingua-palate position type on lingual region upper airway stricture.

RESULTSThere were no statistical difference of age, BMI, AHI and lowest pulse oxygen among four groups OSAHS patients (P > 0.05). And the CT results showed: starting from type I to type IV, the area, coronal and arrowe diameter of lingual region upper airways were decreasing, tongue length, tongue area and the percentage of lingual region airway stricture were increasing, the percentage of lingual region airway stricture were 0/25, 3/39, 7/22, 14/14, respectively (P < 0.05). The multinomial step regression analysis showed that the area of lingual airway was the most important factor of lingua-palate position type, the unstandardized coefficient was -0.39, and standardized coefficient was -0.545.

CONCLUSIONSThe study suggests that there is evident correlation between lingual region airway stricture and lingua-palate position type, and lingual region airway stricture can be roughly determined by lingua-palate position type.