New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, USA.
J Speech Lang Hear Res. 2011 Dec;54(6):1538-45. doi: 10.1044/1092-4388(2011/10-0021). Epub 2011 Nov 3.
To report the feasibility of using a 3-dimensional (3D) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) protocol for examining velopharyngeal structures. Using collected 3D MRI data, the authors investigated the effect of sex on the midsagittal velopharyngeal structures and the levator veli palatini (levator) muscle configurations.
Ten Caucasian healthy adults (5 women and 5 men) participated. A whole-head 3D MRI scan was obtained while participants were at rest in the supine position. Basic anatomic parameters of the velopharynx including midsagittal velopharyngeal structures and levator muscle configurations were compared between sexes.
Detailed information on the 3D MRI protocol and data analysis method was introduced in the study. On the basis of the data, only the length of the levator muscle showed a statistically significant sex difference: Male participants had significantly longer levator muscles than those of female participants.
The present study successfully demonstrated the use of 3D MRI in quantifying major velopharyngeal structures and provided additional data on the anatomic variations that exist in healthy adult individuals.
报告使用三维（3D）磁共振成像（MRI）方案检查腭咽结构的可行性。作者利用收集的 3D MRI 数据，研究了性别对中矢状腭咽结构和腭帆提肌（levator）肌肉结构的影响。
10 名高加索健康成年人（5 名女性和 5 名男性）参与了研究。参与者在仰卧位休息时进行全头 3D MRI 扫描。比较了性别间腭咽的基本解剖参数，包括中矢状腭咽结构和腭帆提肌结构。
本研究详细介绍了 3D MRI 方案和数据分析方法。基于这些数据，只有腭帆提肌的长度存在统计学上的显著性别差异：男性参与者的腭帆提肌明显长于女性参与者。
本研究成功地展示了 3D MRI 在定量主要腭咽结构中的应用，并提供了关于健康成年人存在的解剖变异的额外数据。
