Sphenoid sinus development in choanal atresia.

OBJECTIVES

To study the growth and size of the sphenoid sinuses in choanal atresia patients.

STUDY

DESIGN

Case-control single blinded retrospective study.

METHODS

Fifteen non-syndromic patients (ages 0-26 years old) were selected because they had at least one suitable CT scan (nine bilateral and 11 unilateral=total 20 scans). Twenty age-matched CT scans were used as controls. The following linear measurements were obtained: (1) fronto-zygomatic width, (2) zygomatic width, (3) width of the maxillary sinuses, (4) width of the sphenoid sinuses. Statistical analysis was performed with the exact permutation test in the framework of a parametric analysis of a randomized completed block.

RESULTS

The width measurements of the choanal atresia CT scans did not show any statistically significant difference when compared to their control CT scans except for the zygomatic width in the bilateral choanal atresia patients. In the latter, the width was smaller (p=0.03).

CONCLUSIONS

In unilateral and bilateral choanal atresia patients, there is normal growth of the width of the sphenoid sinuses.