Objective

We aimed to find morphological properties of the hyoid bone, which are predominant among the patients diagnosed with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), and compare them with healthy individuals.

Methods

A total of 67 cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) image sequences of patients (44 males, 23 females) diagnosed with OSA and a total of 70 multislice computed tomography (MSCT) data of non-OSA patients (45 males, 25 females) were selected in this study. DICOM images were imported into InVivo 5.1.2 (Anatomage, San Jose, CA, USA) software. The position of the hyoid bone relative to the C3 and C4 cervical vertebrae, as well as its morphological type (B, V, U, H, D, HK-type) and its total volume were determined.

Results

The volumetric values of the hyoid bone of OSA patients (2384.49±682.073 mm3) were significantly (p<0.001) lower compared to the values derived from non-OSA patients (2952.96± 932.5 mm3). The difference was independent of gender, and volumetric values showed a strong significant (p<0.01) difference between male OSA and non-OSA (2709.18±608.05 mm3. 3157.87±926.5 mm3) and female OSA and non-OSA patients (1763±242.51 2584 mm3. 2584.12±840.21 mm3), as well. In the case of B and V-types, the volumetric values showed significant differences (p <0.05), when the OSA (2300,77±622 mm3; 2166±312 mm3) and non-OSA patients were compared (2823,48±780 mm3; 3216±463 mm3).

Conclusion

Our results suggest, that the volume of the hyoid bone might be a potential biological marker for OSA, especially in the case of B and V hyoid bone types.