Craniofacial and pharyngeal airway morphology in patients with acromegaly

Objective. The aim of this study was to assess differences in craniofacial characteristics, upper spine and pharyngeal airway morphology in patients with acromegaly compared with healthy individuals. Materials and methods. Twenty-one patients with acromegaly were compared with 22 controls by linear and angular measurements on cephalograms. The differences between the mean values of cephalometric parameters were analyzed with Mann-Whitney U-test. Results. With respect to controls, anterior (p < 0.05), middle (p < 0.01) and posterior (p < 0.05) cranial base lengths were increased, sella turcica was enlarged (p < 0.001) and upper spine morphology demonstrated differences in the height of atlas (p < 0.01) and axis (p < 0.05) in patients with acromegaly. Craniofacial changes were predominantly found in the frontal bone (p < 0.01) and the mandible (p < 0.05). As for the airway, patients with acromegaly exhibited diminished dimensions at nasal (p < 0.001), uvular (p < 0.01), mandibular (p < 0.01) pharyngeal levels and at the narrowest point of the pharyngeal airway space (p < 0.001) compared to healthy controls. Soft palate width was significantly higher (p < 0.001) and the hyoid bone was more vertically positioned (p < 0.01) in patients with acromegaly. Conclusions. Current results point to the importance of the reduced airway dimensions and that dentists and/or orthodontists should be aware of the cranial or dental abnormalities in patients with acromegaly.