Polytomographic radiology in the diagnosis and management of maxillary antral disease as determined by antroscopy.
Plain radiology of the maxillary sinus correlates poorly with pathological conditions affecting it as shown by subsequent endoscopic assessment. Tomographic radiology provides a much higher diagnostic yield and in particular is of great value in assessing the 'opaque antrum'. The false positive rate is similar in the two techniques but tomography yielded no false negative diagnoses in this study compared with an incidence of 31% with plain radiology. Sinoscopy remains the definitive method of assessing antral disease but tomographic radiology is a highly accurate screening technique. It provides this accuracy at low cost, low orbital irradiation and more convenience than the newer techniques of CT and MRI scanning which are still not widely available for routine ENT use.
Croft
C B
CB
Royal National Throat, Nose and Ear Hospital, London, UK.
Whittet
H B
HB
Fisher
E W
EW
Lloyd
G A
GA
Wright
A
A
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D004724:Endoscopy; D006801:Humans; D008443:Maxillary Sinus / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology; D008875:Middle Aged; D010254:Paranasal Sinus Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D014054:Tomography; D014056:Tomography, X-Ray; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed