Comparative morphometric analysis of soft palate between OSMF and normal individuals: A digital cephalometric study

Abstract

Aim: To investigate morphometric variation of the soft palate on lateral cephalogram in different stages of. Oral submucous fibrosis. Objectives: To evaluate the radiographic velum length, velum width, angle/inclination of velum and pharnygeal depth divided by velum length giving Need’s ratio in different morphological types of soft palate and different stages of OSMF and to determine correlation of all metric parameters with respect to staging of OSMF. Also, correlation of staging of OSMF with respect to different types of soft palate was evaluated. Materials & Method: Lateral cephalographs of 80 cases with age range 18-45years irrespective of gender were evaluated. Soft palatal patterns were categorized based on You et al. et al’s classification & staging of OSMF was done according to Kiran Kumar et al’s classification. Total 80 cases were divided into two groups such as Group A (OSMF = 40) and Group B (Control =40) Group A (40 OSMF) and Group B (40 Control). The length, width, angle of inclination and need’s ratio was evaluated in each type of soft palate. Mann-Whitney est and Kruskal Wallis test was used for statistical analysis. Results: The mean age of the 80 cases was 40.5years. The highest incidence of soft palate seen in group A and B was type 1, whereas the lowest incidence was type 5 in Group A and type 6 in Group B. The mean and Standard deviation of length, width, angle of inclination and need’s ratio in group A was 22.43 + 0.76, 23.91 + 0.94, 127.72° + 1.21 and 0.8+ 0.57 respectively and that of control group was 24.47 + 1.10, 21.60 + 0.58, 131.6° + 0.75 and 0.63+ 0.97 respectively. Stage 1 OSMF subjects had maximum type 2 soft palate(4%), Stage 2 had type 1 (45%) and stage 3 had type 6 (5%). Conclusion: With OSMF staging advancement, length and angle of inclination of soft palate shows negative, whereas width and the need’s ratio shows positive correlation. Keywords: Obstructive sleep apnea, Oral submucous fibrosis, Soft palate