Correlation between Different Anatomical Conical Variations and Maxillary Sinusitis: A Retrospective Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

Concha bullosa (CB) is a common normal anatomical variation of the paranasal sinus, and it’s classified into lamellar, bulbous, and extensive types. Concha bullosa has been considered a potential contributory factor in maxillary sinusitis because of its role in blocking the osteomata complex drainage. The association between CB and maxillary sinusitis has been widely debated in the literature. This study is carried out in radiology department in Al-Baida medical center AMC, to evaluate the association between maxillary sinusitis and various anatomical variation of concha bullosa, a descriptive retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted by collecting the data from archived electronic dataset of picture archiving communication system (DICOM) for 400 cases in the past 2 years 2023/ 2024. The scans were performed using a Toshiba Acquisition Prime (TSX-303A),128-MDCT scanner, GE Optima. Data was filled in an Excel file, then imported and analyzed by using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS 24, IBM Corp), the p-value was considered statistically significant at a level <0.05. For correlation analysis, a cross-table via Pearson's chi-square was used. In addition, the frequency rate and descriptive analysis were calculated as well. The result of the study showed no significant association between the presence of CB and maxillary sinusitis (χ²=0.23, p=0.63). Although concha bullosa is a frequent anatomical variation of PNS, the association between maxillary sinusitis and CB is uncertain.