The Value of Computed Tomography in Evaluation of Internal Nasal Valve Angle

Objectives: This study was performed in order todetermine the value of tomographic evaluation in mea-surement of the internal nasal valve angle. Patients and Methods: Thirty-one patients wereexamined by nasal endoscopy and computerizedtomography. In each case, nasal valve angle weremeasured using nasal endoscopy and computedtomography (CT) images. Computed tomographymeasurements obtained from classic coronal and nasal base view (NBV) sections to determine thenasal valve angle were compared with the measure-ments obtained from nasal endoscopic examinationimages. Results: When the endoscopic versus the coronaltomographic measurements and the coronal tomo-graphic versus NBV images measurements were com-pared, statistically significant differences were found. No statistically significant difference was observed between the endoscopic and NBV images measure-ments. Conclusion: The results of the study indicate thattomographic images obtained through NBV techniqueprovide accurate measurements of nasal valve angle.Thus, this technique may be choice of preference inthe evaluation of nasal and paranasal areas in select-ed patients. However, traditional coronal tomographicimaging is not a proper method for determination ofthe nasal valve angle alone because of it’s cost andside effects.