ESTABLISHMENT OF NORMAL VALUES OF NASAL CHOANAL SIZE IN CHILDREN - COMPARISON OF NASAL CHOANAL SIZE IN CHILDREN WITH AND WITHOUT SYMPTOMS OF NASAL OBSTRUCTION

Twenty-eight pediatric patients between the ages of 2 and 13 years und erwent intraoperative measurement of the nasal choanae using an instru ment custom designed for this purpose by the Filling Surgical Instrume nt Company. Additional data points recorded included age, surgical pro cedure, and the presence or absence of nasal obstructive symptoms whic h was determined by carefully questioning parents or guardians. Result s were analyzed using linear regression, analysis of variance, and log istic regression. Data supported the following conclusions: (1) a line ar relationship exists between age and average choanal size with the c hoanae enlarging at a rate of 0.208 +/- 0.09 mm per year (P < 0.03, 1, r(2) = 0.16); (2) there is no significant difference between the aver age choanal size in children with and without nasal obstructive sympto ms; (3) the size of the posterior choanal air space cannot be used to accurately predict the presence or absence of nasal obstructive sympto ms in children between the ages of 2 and 13 years. (C) 1997 Elsevier S cience Ireland Ltd.