Relationship between craniofacial photographic analysis and severity of obstructive sleep apnea/hypopnea syndrome in Iranian patients

BACKGROUND: Considering the effectiveness of craniofacial photographic analysis for diagnosis and management of obstructive sleep apnea-hypopnea syndrome (OSAHS) as well as ethnic differences in indexes measured by this method, this study designed to compare the surface facial dimensions, including nose width, intercanthal width and mandibular width of Iranian patients with mild, moderate and severe OSAHS. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this cross sectional study subjects with mild, moderate and severe OSAHS based on apnea-hypopnea index, were studied. To determine cephalometric measurements, face and neck digital photographs were taken from participants following a standardized procedure. Cephalometric measurements including face, intercanthal and mandibular widths were compared between studied groups. RESULTS: In this study, 100 participants enrolled. From which 20 (20.8%), 35 (36.45%) and 41 (42.7%) of them had mild, moderate and severe OSAHS, respectively. Mean of nose, intercanthal and mandibular width were significantly higher in patients with severe OSAHS than those with mild or moderate OSAHS (P < 0.05). In both genders, mandibular width were higher in severe forms of OSAHS. Disease severity was significantly associated with increased age and mandibular width (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Mandibular width was the most important index, which had a significant association with the disease severity. It seems that our results could be used both for diagnosis and follow-up of OSAHS management. They could be used as baseline information as well as a clinical and research tool in the field of OSAHS.