title: Radiographic evaluation of the maxillary sinus prior to dental implant therapy: A comparison between two-dimensional and three-dimensional radiographic imaging.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This study was performed to evaluate the diagnostic efficacy of panoramic radiography and cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) in detecting sinus pathology.
  
  
  METHODS
  This study was based on a retrospective evaluation of patients who had undergone both a panoramic radiograph and a CBCT exam. A total of 100 maxillary sinuses were evaluated. Four examiners with various levels of expertise evaluated the images using a five-point scoring system. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was performed to evaluate the diagnostic efficacy of the two modalities. The image analysis was repeated twice, with at least two weeks between the evaluation sessions. Interobserver reliability was assessed using Cronbach's alpha, and intraobserver reliability was assessed using Cohen's kappa.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Maxillary sinus pathology was detected in 72% of the patients. High interobserver and intraobserver reliability were observed for both imaging modalities and among the four examiners. Statistical analyses using ROC curves demonstrated that the CBCT images had a larger area under the curve (0.940) than the panoramic radiographs (0.579).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Three-dimensional evaluation of the sinus with CBCT was significantly more reliable in detecting pathology than panoramic imaging.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology, University of Connecticut School of Dental Medicine, Farmington, CT, USA.
authors.forename: Aditya
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tadinada
authors.affiliation: Department of Periodontics, University of Connecticut School of Dental Medicine, Farmington, CT, USA.
authors.forename: Karen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Fung
authors.affiliation: Department of Periodontics, University of Connecticut School of Dental Medicine, Farmington, CT, USA.
authors.forename: Sejal
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Thacker
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology, University of Connecticut School of Dental Medicine, Farmington, CT, USA.
authors.forename: Mina
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mahdian
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology, University of Connecticut School of Dental Medicine, Farmington, CT, USA.
authors.forename: Aniket
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Jadhav
authors.affiliation: Department of Periodontics, University of Connecticut School of Dental Medicine, Farmington, CT, USA.
authors.forename: Gian Pietro
authors.initials: GP
authors.lastname: Schincaglia
keywords: Cone-Beam Computed Tomography; Dental Implants; Maxillary Sinus; Radiography, Panoramic