title: Clinical significance of asymptomatic sinus abnormalities on magnetic resonance imaging.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the prevalence of abnormalities of the paranasal sinus detected by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in asymptomatic subjects.
  
  
  METHODS
  Prospective study.
  
  
  METHODS
  Outpatient clinic.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 325 patients who underwent MRI for suspected intracranial disease. Of those, 257 patients lacked nasal or sinus symptoms.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Sinus abnormalities were seen on MRI in 153 (47.1%) of 325 patients, including 107 (41.6%) of the 257 asymptomatic patients. Subjects older than 50 years had a significantly higher frequency of sinus abnormalities on MRI (49.8%) vs those younger than 50 years (39.5%) (P < .05). The maxillary sinus abnormality was observed in 99 patients (38.5%) and the ethmoid sinus abnormality was observed in 52 (20.2%) (P < .01). The most common abnormality was mucosal thickening in the maxillary and ethmoid sinuses.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  A high prevalence of sinus abnormalities was detected in asymptomatic subjects on MRI.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology, Faculty of Medicine, Kagoshima University, Japan.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Iwabuchi
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hanamure
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ueno
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Fukuda
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Furuta
mesh_terms: D005005:Ethmoid Sinus / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008443:Maxillary Sinus / Q000473:pathology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009297:Nasal Mucosa / Q000473:pathology; D015995:Prevalence; D011446:Prospective Studies