Name: Cassiana Augusta da Silva
Type: MSc dissertation
Publication date: 27/11/2018
Advisor:

Name	Role
Maria Christina Thomé Pacheco	Advisor *

Examining board:

Name	Role
Maria Christina Thomé Pacheco	Advisor *
Roberto Carlos Bodart Brandão	Co advisor *
Rowdley Robert Rossi Pereira	External Examiner *
Sergio Lins de Azevedo Vaz	Internal Examiner *

Summary: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) presents withrepetitive upperairway obstruction during sleep, daytime sleepiness, decreased quality of lifeand severe systemic consequences. Even though OSAhas a significant prevalence in the general population, many cases remain undiagnosed –mainly in woman –becausesome disease’s mechanisms are still unknown. The objectives were to evaluate the upper airwayand facial sinusdimensions of women with and without OSAto detect possible dimensionalchanges that could indicate the presence of OSA and to evaluate the influence of age on the dimensions studied. Volumetric and linear measurementsweretaken in twenty-nine cone beam computer tomography, in which 16 women had mild and moderate OSA and 13 women had no risk for developing the disease. Volumes evaluatedwerepharynx (Vfar), nasal complex(Vnas),maxillary sinuses (Vsm), frontal sinus (Vsf) and the sum of all these volumes (Vtotal). Linear measurementswere nasal cavity’s width, inferiorturbinate’sand soft palate’s length and width. Both groups were evaluated by age of 30-49 and 50-65 years old. No significant differences werefound in volumes between groups. However, women with OSA showedareduction on all the volumes of pneumatic cavitiesandincreased soft palatemeasurements. The older group with OSAshowed a significant increase in the inferior turbinate’s width. Women, in general, showed decreased volumesoffacial cavities andincreased measurements for lower nasal turbinate and soft palate, although not necessarily caused by the OSA

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