Morphometric evaluation of the frontal sinus in relation to age.

To investigate the development of the frontal sinus size during life, we studied the planar morphometry in 60 frontal radiographs of patients of different age and gender. A professional software (Bersoft Image 4.02) was used to measure the frontal area of the right and left frontal sinuses on radiographic images. A frontal sinus was already evident in 4-year-old children. Unilateral or bilateral absence of the frontal sinus was seen in 5% of cases. The size of the sinusal area increases up to 19-year-old patients, synchronous with general craniofacial growth. In adults, individual differences in size and shape occurred in relation to environmental factors. In some elderly patients, osseous resorption led to an enlargement of the frontal sinus that might complicate surgical procedures performed in this area.