Investigation of Sphenoid Sinus Pneumatization in Turkish Population with Cone-Beam Computed Tomography

Abstract

Objective: The aim of this study is to examine the sphenoid sinus (SS) pneumatization in the Turkish population, todetermine their distribution by type, and to investigate the effect of gender on SS pneumatization.Material and Methods: SS was analyzed in coronal, axial, and sagittal sections on cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) images of 804 individuals. The pneumatization degree of SS was classified. The clival and lateral extensiontypes were evaluated. Anterior clinoid process pneumatization (ACPP) was examined. The obtained data were statistically analyzed.Results: The most common types of SS pneumatization were complete sellar (66.8%), subdorsal (71.6%) among theclival extension types, full lateral (51.1%) among the lateral extension types, and type I (58.8%) among the ACPP types.The lateral extension was observed in 559 (34.8%) of 1608 sides, and clival extension was observed in 66.8% of 804individuals. While no statistically significant difference was observed in SS pneumatization according to gender (P ¼.682), a significant difference was found in clival extension (P ¼ .000). ACPP was observed in 312 (38.8%) of 804 patientsand 459 (28.5%) of 1608 sides. A statistically significant difference was observed in the ACPP types observed on the leftside according to gender (P ¼ .012).Conclusion: In our study with a large sample group, it was observed that SS pneumatization varied considerablybetween individuals. For this reason, radiological examination of each individual before the surgical procedure isimportant in reducing iatrogenic complications.