Intraoperative incidental finding of maxillary hypoplasia: a rare case report

Abstract

Hypoplastic and aplastic paranasal sinuses are rare conditions which can lead to obstruction of mucociliary clearance. most of these patients are asymptomatic, however these conditions may lead to chronic headaches and nasal obstruction which can be misleading towards the diagnosis of chronic rhinosinusitis. it has been reported in literature that conventional radiography could not differentiate between inflammatory pathologies, neoplasm, and hypoplasia of the sinus. Computed tomography and cone beam computed tomography are the modalities of choice to differentiate these conditions, wherein cone beam CT is found to be more accurate for diagnosis of hypoplasia. In the present study, we report an incidental intraoperative finding of hypoplastic left sided maxillary sinus of a 17-year-old male patient who had clinical features of chronic rhinosinusitis.