title: Anatomical Considerations on the Alveolar Antral Artery as Related to the Sinus Augmentation Surgical Procedure.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The alveolar antral artery (AAA) is a vascular structure that often passes through the area of lateral window opening during sinus augmentation and can reach dimensions that, if the vessel is severed, can represent a serious complication of the surgical procedure.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  With this narrative review, we aimed at summarizing the results obtained from all the studies that analyzed the variability in anatomical position and dimension of the AAA in order to give the clinician a reference when planning for a sinus augmentation surgery.
  
  
  METHODS
  A search of available literature was conducted using electronic databases (PubMed and Medline) and manual searching.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Detection rate of AAA on cone beam computerized tomography (CBCT) is variable and may depend upon the experience of the clinician. The course of the vessel is most frequently intraosseous, and its diameter, despite being smaller than 1 mm in most of the cases, can have a high incidence of diameters between 1 mm and 2 mm. Mean distances of the AAA from alveolar crest and sinus floor range from 11.25 mm to 26.90 mm and 5.80 mm to 10.40 mm.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Anatomical variants of the AAA that may increase the risk of severe intraoperatory bleeding are frequent and must be detected by the clinician implementing the use of the CBCT.
authors.affiliation: Periodontics resident, State University of New York, Buffalo, NY, USA. nicolaal@buffalo.edu.
authors.forename: Nicola Alberto
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1403-5274
authors.initials: NA
authors.lastname: Valente
mesh_terms: D001158:Arteries / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D054893:Cone-Beam Computed Tomography; D006801:Humans; D008443:Maxillary Sinus / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D059546:Sinus Floor Augmentation / Q000379:methods*
keywords: computerized tomography; cone beam CT; maxillary sinus; maxillary sinus floor elevation; sinus augmentation; sinus floor elevation