SIGNIFICANCE OF PARANASAL SINUS APLASIA

SERTAC DUZER^*, YAVUZ AYDEMIR^**, ONER SAKALLIOGLU^*, ABDULVAHAP AKYIGIT^*, CAHIT POLAT^*, HASAN CETINER^*

^*Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Elazig Training and Research Hospital, Elazig, Turkey - ^**Department of Radiology, Elazig Training and Research Hospital, Elazig, Turkey

Introduction: Paranasal sinus aplasia is a rare condition mostly affecting the frontal and sphenoid sinuses and more rarely the maxillary sinuses.

Material and methods: The present study retrospectively evaluated axial and coronal 1 mm thick CT scans of paranasal sinuses in 1502 cases. The patients without aeration of the frontal bone and ethmoidal cells above the supraorbital margin (horizontal line) and patients without aerated cells extending beyond the medial wall of the orbit (vertical line) were considered to have frontal sinus aplasia

Results: Of 1502 patients with an age range between 16 and 73 years, 819 were females and 683 were males. Of these patients, 42 (0.27%) had bilateral frontal sinus aplasia and 53 (0.35%) had unilateral frontal sinus aplasia. Only two patients had sphenoid sinus aplasia and one patient had maxillary sinus aplasia.

Conclusion: Paranasal sinuses represent great structural variations. Fractures, mucocele, primary ciliary dyskinesia, infections, and some syndromes may affect the development of PNSs. Aplasia of PNSs can point to clinically significant diseases and it must be kept in mind and explored during planning for surgical intervention to the sinuses in order to prevent complications. Computed tomography is a useful method in delineating a detailed anatomy of PNSs and detecting anomalies and pathological conditions.