The relationship between anatomic variations of paranasal sinuses and chronic sinusitis in children.
CONCLUSIONS
Anatomical variations in the nose and paranasal sinuses are common in children. Due to the absence of a definitive relationship between anatomical variations and sinus disease, local, systemic or environmental factors appear to be more significant in pediatric sinusitis than the anatomic variations.


OBJECTIVE
Chronic sinusitis is increasing in the pediatric population. Following the initial reports of functional endoscopic sinus surgery (FESS) for children, the majority of patients undergoing this procedure have experienced improved quality of life. Thus, we need to know the precise anatomy and anatomical variations of the nose, as well as the relationship between such anatomy and chronic sinusitis.


METHODS
To determine the extent and distribution of disease, as well as associated anatomic abnormalities, computed tomography (CT) scans were performed on 113 children with persistent symptoms of sinusitis after failure of medical therapies.


RESULTS
The maxillary sinus was the most commonly involved sinus, followed by the ethmoid, sphenoid, and frontal sinuses. There was no relationship between age and severity of sinusitis. Agger nasi cell was the most common anatomical variation, followed by septal deviation, Haller cell, concha bullosa, paradoxical middle turbinate, and Onodi cell. The prevalence of septal deviation increased with age. There was no significant relationship between the sinusitis and anatomic variations.
Kim
Hyun Jun
HJ
Department of Otolaryngology, Ajou University School of Medicine, Suwon, Korea. entkhj@ajou.ac.kr
Jung Cho
Min
M
Lee
Jang-Woo
JW
Tae Kim
Yoon
Y
Kahng
Hison
H
Sung Kim
Ho
H
Hahm
Ki-Hyun
KH
D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002908:Chronic Disease; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010256:Paranasal Sinuses / Q000002:abnormalities* / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012852:Sinusitis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000209:etiology*; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed