Evaluation of maxillary sinus anatomical variations and pathologies in elderly, young, posterior dentate and edentulous patient groups with cone-beam computed tomography

Background: The aim of this study was to evaluate the frequency of maxillary sinus pathologies and anatomic variations in elderly and edentulous patients by using cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT). Materials and methods: The study included elderly and young patient groups. The elderly group involved posterior edentulous and dentate patients. CBCT images were assessed, and the presence of any pathological findings, septa, accessory maxillary ostium, and Haller cell in each maxillary sinus were recorded according to the groups. Chi-square test was used to analyse the intergroup differences (p < 0.05). Results: There was no statistically difference between the young and elderly groups regarding the presence of a pathology (p = 0.077) and septa (p = 0.37), whereas accessory ostium (p = 0.009) was more common and Haller cell (p = 0.000) was less common in the elderly group when compared to the young group. There was no significant difference between the edentulous and dentate group regarding the presence of a pathology (p = 0.39), septation (p = 0.69) and Haller cell (p = 0.75); accessory ostium rate was found to be increased (p = 0,015) in edentulous patients. Conclusions: It was observed that the frequency of accessory maxillary ostium was increased in elderly, especially in edentulism. And the frequency of Haller cell was found to be decreased in elderly patients.