A study of Asian paranasal sinus anatomy using triplanar computed tomography scans

Abstract

This thesis is based primarily on a study of triplanar Computed Tomography (CT) views of the paranasal sinuses of fifty patients with a mean age of 45.9 years who underwent pre-operative CT scans for complaints arising from sinus and nasal disorders. The technology enabling this study is derived from surgical navigation protocols used in image guidance in endoscopic sinus surgery.This study found a higher prevalence of supraorbital ethmoid cells, frontal bulla cells and sphenoethmoid cells compared with studies which used the same triplanar CT modality of study on non-Asian patients with non-diseased paranasal sinuses. It also found a higher prevalence of optic nerve dehiscence and lower incidence of internal carotid artery dehiscence in the Asian sphenoid sinus compared to studies using coronal plane CT and cadaveric dissection modalities.