Evaluation of Sphenoid Sinus Pneumatization Subtypes in Posteroanterior and Lateral Directions on CT Imaging

Abstract

Background: Sphenoid sinus (SS) variations are diverse, and identifying them before transsphenoidal interventions is essential. The gold standard imaging method for assessing the morphological characteristics of the SS is computed tomography (CT), which yields valuable information. Objectives: This study used CT imaging to evaluate SS pneumatization in the Turkish population's posteroanterior (PA) and lateral directions. Methods: Head CT images of 509 cases in total were evaluated retrospectively. Initially, SS types were determined based on PA pneumatization. Afterward, the new classification was used, and SS pneumatizations were defined in the lateral direction accordingly. Results: According to PA pneumatization, conchal (0.6%), presellar (16.7%), sellar (66.4%), and post-sellar pneumatization (16.3%) were detected. Accordingly, the relationship between SS type and gender was insignificant (P = 0.354). When the lateral type pneumatization classification was used, the right lateral body (39.9%) and left lateral body (32.2%) were found to be the most common types. The relationship between SS lateral-type pneumatization and gender was insignificant (P = 0.388). Conclusions: Sphenoid sinus pneumatization shows significant individual variability, which is beneficial to evaluate before surgery. In addition, more information was obtained about pneumatization using lateral direction typing as a new classification.