Background and Objectives: The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between cyclic changes of unilateral nasal obstruction and nasal geometry in patients with septal deviation. Material and Methods: Twenty-one
young
adults with anteriorly located septal deviation were selected. With acoustic rhinometry, we measured minimum cross-sectional area(MCA) and nasal volume (NV) in 20 minutes interval for 7 hours. The patients were required to assess their own
unilateral
nasal obstruction on a linear visual analogue scale immediately prior to acoustic rhinometric measurements. After plotting of MCA and VAS as a function of time, we determined whether cyclic changes were present or not. Correlation between
subjective
scores and objective measurements were calculated using Pearsons correlation coefficient. We calculated dalta (δ) value in patients with cyclic changes of MCA and VAS to compare the unilateral MCA changes to corresponding VAS changes of each
nasal
cavity. The formula for calculating Delta value was Delta value=ｍ(Npeak-wtrough)/ｍ(Wpeak-Wtrough) ; where ｍ is the sample mean, Npeak the peak of narrow side, Wpeak the peak of wide side, Wtrough the nadir of wide side. Results: Fifteen
subjects showed classic alternating nasal cycle in MCA ad ipsilateral VAS with significant positive linear correlation. Despite the diverse distribution of delta value of MCA cycle (δM), the mean delta value of VAS cycle
(δV) was
about 0.8, thus representing a small difference of patency of each nasal cavities in patients with septal deviation. Conclusion: In most patients, nasal sensation of patency fluctuated with a similar amplitude with each other regardless of
the
degree of septal deviation.
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