A reproducible and repeatable digital method for quantifying nasal and sinus airway changes following suture palatine expansion

PURPOSE: The airway complex is modified by palatine expansion. Computer tomography has been used in the past to determine the change in volume, but there was a lack of a specific, reproducible method for this purpose. The present study sought to determine the accuracy, reproducibility, and repeatability of an innovative digital measurement technique for analyzing the volume of maxillary and nasal sinus airways following suture palatine expansion performed with the Hyrax disyuntor appliance. METHODS: Patients underwent preoperative and postoperative cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) scans. The datasets were subsequently uploaded into a digital treatment planning software to record the volume of the right and left maxillary sinus, as well as the nasal and maxillary sinus airway complex. The Gage Repeatability & Reproducibility statistical analysis methodology was used to evaluate the repeatability and reproducibility of this measurement technique when measuring the volume of maxillary and nasal sinus airways following suture palatine expansion with the Hyrax disyuntor appliance. Additionally, comparative analysis between preoperative and postoperative measures was performed using Student’s t-test for statistical analysis. RESULTS: In 5 patients, paired t-tests found statistically significant differences before and after treatment in the volumes of the left maxillary sinus (p = 0.002), right maxillary sinus (p = 0.001), and nasal and maxillary sinus airway complex (p = 0.005) after suture palatine expansion with the Hyrax disyuntor appliance. CONCLUSION: The proposed digital technique is an accurate, repeatable, and reproducible measurement technique for analyzing the volume of maxillary and nasal sinus airways following suture palatine expansion using the Hyrax disyuntor.