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De Felippe NLO, Bhushan N et al. Am J Orthod Dentofacial Orthop 2009; 136: 490.e1–490.e8

This study, by including a control group and increasing the retention period to 42 months, addresses some of the shortcomings of earlier work carried out by the same investigators. The patients examined were those treated in the earlier study. After RME, the nasal cavities in 25 test and 25 control patients were measured using morphometric assessment and acoustic rhinometry. In those treated with RME, the palatal area increased significantly and nasal airway resistance decreased compared with the control group. However, this was not mirrored by an increase in inter-molar dimension. The investigators conclude that 'RME is a powerful tool to normalize most of the variables' that they studied. However, they concede that there were still some remaining methodological flaws with this present study.