Heritability of the pharyngeal airway volume and dimensions as assessed from siblings with overt malocclusions.

OBJECTIVE

To quantify the relative contributions of genetic and environmental factors to airway volume and dimensions in orthodontic patients.

MATERIALS AND

METHODS

One hundred and twenty-five siblings from 57 families were selected. Cone beam computed tomography scans were taken as part of the orthodontic records and the Dolphin3D © imaging software was used to determine airway volume and dimensions. SOLAR program was implemented to calculate heritability.

RESULTS

The heritability of the airway volume was negligible but increased significantly from 5% to 72% (95% confidence interval was 27% to 100%) when anterior-posterior (AP) dimension was controlled in the calculating model.

CONCLUSION

The capacity to maintain, rather than having proper AP dimension of the airway, seems to be the most critical mark of a proper airway volume.