Title of article :
Anatomic Variants of Paranasal Sinuses and Chronic Sinusitis
Author/Authors :
Ameri, A. A Department of CT Scan - Imam Hossein Hospital - Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran , Eslambolchi, A Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran , Bakhshandeh, H Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics - School of PublicHealth - Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran
Abstract :
Background/Objectives: There are normal anatomic varian ts of paranasal structures, with
concha bullosa (pneumatization) of the middle tur binate and septal deviation being the most
common. It is assumed that these anatomic varian ts contribute to chronic sinusitis by blocking
normal sinus drainage. This study investigat ed this assumption among the chronic sinusitis
patients referring to Radiology departments affiliated to Medical Sciences universities.
Patients and Methods: A case-control study was carried o ut on 148 patients with a clinical
diagnosis of chronic sinusitis who were referre d for a sinus CT scan by ENT specialists. The
control group (n= 78) were chosen from the ENT clinic patients with diagnoses other than
sinusitis. The association between the anatomic variants (concha bullosa of inferior and middle
turbinate, agger nasi cell, haller cell, gian t ethmoidal bulla, septal deviation and inverted
uncinate process) and existence of chronic sinusitis was shown wi th odds ratio( OR) and 95%
confidence interval. Logistic regression analy sis was performed for adjusting the confounders.
Results: One hundred and eight (47.8 %) patients were male. The mean ( ±SD) age was 35.5
(±12) years. No difference was seen in the age and gender distribution between the cases
and controls. Septal deviation and concha bullo sa of middle turbinate were the anatomic
variants significantly associated with chronic sinusitis (respectively OR= 2.04, CI: 1.07-3.89;
and OR= 2.19, CI: 1.12-4.30). Besides, we found that agger nasi cell (OR: 0.7, CI: 0.64-0.77) and
inverted uncinate process (OR: 4.76, CI: 1.92-2 4.5) were associated with the occurrence of
ethmoidal and frontal sinusitis, respectively. No confounding effect was seen on logistic regression
analysis.
Conclusion: Normal anatomic variants of paranasal sinuses may be considered as predictors
for the occurrence of chronic sinusitis. The posit ive effect of any procedure for correction of
these variants should be shown through other studies.
Keywords :
sinusitis , conche nasale , osteomeatal unit
Journal title :
Astroparticle Physics
