The relationship between nasal resistance to airflow and the airspace minimal cross-sectional area.

ABSTRACT: The relationship between nasal resistance (R) and airspace minimal cross-sectional area (mCSA) remains unclear. After the introduction of acoustic rhinometry, many otolaryngologists believed that mCSA measurements would correlate with subjective perception of nasal airway obstruction (NAO), and thus could provide an objective measure of nasal patency to guide therapy. However, multiple studies reported a low correlation between mCSA and subjective nasal patency, and between mCSA and R. This apparent lack of correlation between nasal form and function has been a long-standing enigma in the field of rhinology. Here we propose that nasal resistance is described by the Bernoulli Obstruction Theory. This theory predicts two flow regimes. For mCSA>Acrit, the constriction is not too severe and th

SUBMITTER: Garcia GJM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4885785 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature