Accidental findings of maxillary sinuses in dental patients on CBCT images. A retrospective study.

Abstract

Background and objective: Maxillary sinus pathology is a common finding on routine CBCT scans of the maxilla. Hence the objective of this study is to define the frequency of accidental findings within maxillary sinuses on patients’ CBCT images that are referred for various dento-alveolar reasons in the maxilla and to evaluate the relation of the age and gender with the maxillary sinus condition. Methods: A total of 255 sequential CBCT scans from patients aged between 15-78 years, with a localized field of view (8.0cm x 5.0 cm) were retrospectively included in the analysis, resulting in an evaluation of 510 maxillary sinuses. The findings were categorized as healthy sinus, mucosal thickening, polypoid thickening and partial opacification. Result: Out of 255 patients, 148 (58%) were males and 107 (42%) were females with a mean age of 50.23 (SD=19.08). Implant assessment was the major request 206 (80.8%) followed by exploration of impacted teeth 35 (13.7%). 52.2% of included cases showed sinuses with no pathology (NP). 47.8% showed accidental findings of which mucosal thickening (MT) was the highest 104 (40.8%). The relationship between gender and maxillary sinus status was statistically non-significant (p=0.346). The relation of the age (≤50 and >50) and sinus status, however, was statistically significant (p=0.035). Conclusion: According to the present study results, the most common referral reasons for CBCT examination were for implant assessment. Mucosal thickening was the highest among the pathologic findings in the maxillary sinus. There was no significant relationship between gender and maxillary sinus status but there was a statistically significant relationship between age and findings. Keywords: CBCT, Maxillary sinus, incidental pathologies, Accidental findings, mucosal thickening.