Prevalence and anatomical characteristics of maxillary sinus septa: A systematic review and meta-analysis of cone-beam computed tomography studies

Abstract

ObjectiveWe aimed to perform a contemporaneous systematic review and meta-analysis of the cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) studies to resolve conflicting results in the literature about the prevalence and anatomical variations of maxillary sinus septa. MethodsPubMed, Embase, and Scopus, and Cochrane library databases were searched (from inception to 31 October 2022) to identify studies that assessed prevalence and anatomical characteristics (location, orientation, and/or morphology) of maxillary sinus septa in the subjects undergoing CBCT imaging. The necessary data were extracted and pooled prevalence and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated. ResultsA total of 19 studies were eligible, compromising 6507 subjects and 12,536 maxillary sinuses. According to analysis, septa were observed in 34.7% (95% CI: 30.0–39.4) of the maxillary sinuses. Also, 22.9% (95% CI: 17.2–28.7) of patients showed septa in one maxillary sinus, while 17.7% (95% CI: 12.6–22.9) featured them bilaterally. Prevalence of maxillary sinus septa in men was 51.9% (95% CI: 42.0–61.8), which was higher than in women (47.0% [95% CI: 37.6–56.4). Septa were present in 34.8% (95% CI: 23.1–46.5) and 34.3% (95% CI: 26.7–41.9) of the left and right maxillary sinuses, respectively. Regarding location, most of the septa (54.0% [95% CI: 19.7–22.4]) were identified in the middle maxillary sinus region. The most frequent orientation of maxillary sinus septa was coronal (56.9% [95% CI: 54.2–59.5]). Finally, majority of the maxillary sinus septa were incomplete (68.8% [95% CI: 65.9–71.6]). ConclusionsSepta had a considerable prevalence in the maxillary sinuses. Also, significant variations were observed in the anatomical characteristics of the maxillary sinus septa.