Introduction
The intrauterine development of paranasal sinuses commences in the form
of mucosal invaginations in the 3rd and 4th months. 1There are four paranasal sinuses named after the bone they are
associated with: maxillary, ethmoid, sphenoid, and frontal. The ethmoid
sinuses are between the orbits. They are formed as labyrinths and vary
in number from 3 to 18. The maxillary sinuses are the largest of the
paranasal sinuses, located bilaterally in the maxilla. The frontal
sinuses are in the frontal bone superior to the orbits and vary in size.
The sphenoidal sinuses are in the body of the sphenoid bone and
open into the posterior wall of the sphenoid-ethmoidal recess.2
The maxillomandibular complex is often affected by developmental
problems and growth problems, and unilateral, bilateral, horizontal,
vertical and / or transverse deficiencies are observed. Treatment of
this complex is often performed by surgical intervention involving one
or both jaws. In surgeries involving the maxilla, maxillary sinuses are
affected by the surgery and affect the course of surgery and precise
knowledge of such structures with variable anatomy will be important.3,4 Paranasal sinuses are also very important
structures for closely related endoscopic sinus surgeries, endoscopic
skull-base interventions like pituitary adenomas, anterior and middle
skull-base meningiomas, craniopharyngiomas, surgical repair of
(cerebro-spinal fluid) CSF fistulas and osteotomies involving the
maxilla such as Le Fort osteotomies.3 Detailed
preoperative investigation is crucial for patient selection and hence
desired outcome.5
The present study aims to compare ethmoid, sphenoid and maxillary sinus
volumes and the presence of Onodi cells in patients with maxillary
deficiency requiring Le Fort osteotomy compared to healthy patients, by
employing computed tomography imaging. No accessible information could
be found on this subject during literature search. The authors believe
anatomical knowledge of these structures in patients with maxillary
deficiency will influence all branches performing surgeries in these
areas.