Effects of Frontal Recess Cells on the Development of Frontal Sinusitis

Abstract

Background and ObjectivesZZFrontal recess anatomy can be very complex, with accessory cells extending to the frontal sinus and possibly contributing to the obstruction of the frontal sinus. However, there is still controversy on the effect of the frontal recess cells. We designed this study to assess the effect of frontal recess cells on frontal sinusitis. Subjects and MethodZZWe retrospectively reviewed chart and collected data of those who visited the outpatient clinic between January and June, 2011. Parnasal sinus CT was taken with Brillance 64-slice computed tomography scanners. The image was reviewed by two or more otolaryngologists to identify the frontal recess cells. The nasofrontal isthmus diameter and the area of nasofrontal isthmus was reconstructed and measured with workstation. Then, we compared the radiological results of frontal recess cells with the frequency of frontal sinusitis. ResultsZZThe presence of anterior group of frontal recess cells showed no influence on the frontal recess anatomy. The presence of frontal bullar cell was significantly associated with the development of frontal sinusitis by simple (p=0.001) and multiple (p=0.038) logistic regression models. It was shown that the narrower the area of frontal isthmus the more developed were the frontal sinusitis, showing statistically significance in the simple (p=0.013) and multiple (p= 0.017) logistic regression models. ConclusionZZOur results also showed that similar results compared to previous Asianreport. The narrowness of nasofrontal isthmus could be the cause of frontal sinusitis. The frontal bullar cell could be the cause of frontal sinusitis encroaching on the frontal recess and affect the nasofrontal pathway.�