ABSTRACT 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.
