ANALYSIS OF VARIATION IN VELAR MORPHOLOGY WITH ASSESSMENT OF NEED’S RATIO IN NORMAL INDIVIDUAL: A PROSPECTIVE CROSS-SECTIONAL DIGITAL CEPHALOMETRIC STUDY

*Dr. Nida Shaikh, Dr. Lata Kale, Dr. Sonia Sodhi, Dr. Firdous Shaikh and Dr. Vishwas Kadam

ABSTRACT

Background: Soft palate is posterior fibromuscular part of the palate whose morphological variants in the past have been largely ignored until you et.al. classified the same. Soft palate dysfunctions are frequently seen in patients with cleft palate, oral submucous fibrosis, obstructive sleep apnoea, soft palate dysfunction. Hence knowledge of velar morphology and need‟s ratio helps us to approach and manage such conditions. Aim: The purpose of the present study was to investigate the variation in morphology of soft palate in different age and sex groups, and to find its association with the Need‟s ratio. Materials and Methods: The study sample consisted of 240 subjects aged between 15 and 45 years. The velar morphology on lateral cephalograms was analysed and grouped into different types. Need‟s ratio was calculated for all subjects by division of pharyngeal depth by velar length. The results obtained were subjected to a statistical analysis. Results: The most frequent type was rat tail shaped and least common distorted/S shaped. New variants were observed. The mean velar length and velar width, pharyngeal depth values were significantly higher in males while Need‟s ratio were higher among females. A highly significant association was observed between the mean velar width, pharyngeal depth, and need‟s ratio with various age groups. Conclusion: The present study highlighted to investigate the various morphological appearance of soft palate as described by You M et.al using lateral cephalograms. The knowledge of a varied spectrum of velar morphology and the variants of the soft palate helps in a better understanding of the velopharyngeal closure and craniofacial anomalies.

Keywords: velar morphology, velopharyngeal insufficiency, lateral cephalogram, Need?s ratio.