Nasal Resistance and Nasal Valve Area

The nasal valve is considered to be the primary flow-limiting segment of the normal upper airway. We examined subjects with and without nasal pathology to determine whether nasal airway resistance, as determined by rhinomanometry, could be related to clinically measurable geometrical characteristics of the nasal valve. Data was obtained from 26 subjects, 22 with nasal airflow complaints due to valvular or septal abnormalities and four without. Nasal valve area was estimated by triangular approximation, and transnasal airflow resistance was measured using head-out whole-body plethysmography. When all subjects were considered, no clear relationship between nasal resistance and nasal valve area was apparent. However, when patients with severe septal deflection or with a prominent vasomotor response to nasal decongestion were not considered, nasal resistance was found to be significantly negatively correlated to nasal valve area. Further studies are required to relate more posterior pathology to nasal resistance.