An evaluation of the relationship between maxillary sinus anterior wall depression and maxillary sinus opacity by computed tomography and panoramic radiography

Objective Maxillary sinus anterior wall depression (AWD) has been associated with patterns such as the presence of panoramic innominate line and silent sinus syndrome. The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between AWD of maxillary sinus and both maxillary sinus opacity and the presence of innominate line using computed tomography (CT) and panoramic radiography (PR). Materials and methods 250 CT and PR images (122 female, 128male) which had been taken for various reasons were randomly selected from the radiology archive of the our department. Innominate line visibility in PR is divided into three as invisible, obscure and clear. On CT images, the distance between guide line and the deepest point of the maxillary sinus anterior wall was calculated as AWD. The presence of maxillary sinus opacity and maxillary sinus AWD were evaluated on CT images. Demographic information such as age, gender and localization of the findings were noted in all measurements. Results In 143 (57.2%) patients, the innominate line (clear and obscure patterns) was seen on the PR images. AWD was observed in 104 (41.6%) CT images. The presence of maxillary sinus opacity was observed in 117 (46.8%) images. The mean right anterior wall depth was 5.69 and 4.88 in males and females, respectively, while the mean left anterior wall depth was 5.64 and 4.94 in males and females, respectively. Right wall depth was significantly higher in males (p < 0.05).There was no statistically significant difference in left wall depth (p > 0.05). Conclusions Anterior wall depression was found to be associated with both maxillary sinus opacity and the visibility of the innominate line. Patients with AWD should be considered as susceptible to maxillary sinus diseases.