The prevalence of nasal septum deviation and its association with maxillary sinus mucosal thickening using cone-beam computed tomography

Abstract

Introduction: Maxillary sinus mucosal thickening is a very common disease that is attributed to several reasons including environmental and anatomical. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence and relationship between nasal septum deviation and maxillary sinus mucosal thickening using cone-beam computed tomography imaging. Methods: The nasal cavities and maxillary sinuses of 226 patients (169 women and 57 men) were retrospectively examined using cone beam computed tomography. Statistical analysis was done to determine the prevalence and relationship between the nasal septum deviation and maxillary sinus mucosal thickening regarding gender and age. The level of significance was set at 0.05 and statistical analysis was done using the SPSS version 26. Results: The average age of the participants was 43.7 ± 13.3 years. The prevalence of deviated nasal septum was 87.6% (95% CI, 82.6-91.3%), and no significant relationship between nasal septum deviation and age and gender was observed. The highest frequency of nasal septum deviation according to the Meladina classification modified by Rao et al. was assigned to type 7 (36%). Mucosal thickness > 2 mm was found in the right and left maxillary sinuses, 36.7%, and 34.5%, respectively.