Nasal Valve Area in Iranians, an Imaging Based Study

Background and Aim:The internal nasal valve is the narrowest area of nasal airway bounded by the nasal septum, the caudal edge of upper lateral cartilage and the anterior head of the inferior turbinate. Knowledge about this area is of utmost importance for every nasal surgeon. This study was done to evaluate the internal nasal valve angle and cross sectional area in Iranians. methods: This is a retrospective study done using data from cross sectional imagings available from patients who underwent image guided endoscopic skull base surgery between 2013 and 2017. An image navigation software [Osiri- x: 8.5.2] was used for display of the multidimensional images. Results:Collectively 43 cases (i.e. 86 nasal passages) including 24 males and 19 females in the age range 21 – 74 years (48 ± 13.6) participated in the study. The internal nasal valve angle of naval cavities of the 86 subjects was averaged and the mean value of 17.70º (±3.72) was obtained. Mean value for cross sectional area was of 1.40 cm2(±0.38). There was not a statistically significant difference between males and females in terms of the nasal valve angle and nasal valve cross sectional area. Conclusion: We found some differences between the nasal valve angle and cross sectional area between Iranians and values of Asians / Japanese and Caucasians reported in previous studies. Despite these findings, reaching a conclusion needs further large sample studies in different ethnic groups paying special attention to similar case selection and study design.