Morphological CBCT parameters for an accurate differentiation between nasopalatine duct cyst and the normal nasopalatine canal.

BACKGROUND: The incisive foramen width was a traditional imaging criterion for diagnosing nasopalatine duct (NPD) cysts. Recent CBCT studies demonstrated significant dimensional variations of the nasopalatine canal, which raised questions about the accuracy of this criterion. This study investigated whether nasopalatine canal diameters assessed on CBCT images can accurately differentiate NPD cysts from normal nasopalatine canals. METHODS: The study included 19 patients with NPD cysts (12 (63.2%) males, 7 (36.8%) females, mean age 44.7 ± 13.3), and a control group of 164 patients (72 (43.9%) males, 92 (56.1%) females, mean age 47.25 ± 17.74). CBCT images were retrospectively evaluated. The following nasopalatine canal diameters were measured on reference sagittal, coronal, and axial reformation images: nasal opening anteroposterior (AP) and mediolateral (ML) diameter, oral opening AP (APOO) and ML (MLOO) diameter, nasopalatine canal length, minimum ML (minML) diameter, anterior wall expansion (AWE), nasopalatine canal angle, and the mid-level AP diameter (midAP). All parameters were compared between groups. Discriminant functional analysis (DFA) was applied to detect CBCT parameters that best differentiate the NPD cyst from the normal canal. RESULTS: Patients with NPD cyst had significantly greater values of APOO (7.06 ± 2.09 vs. 5.61 ± 1.70), MLOO (6.89 ± 2.95 vs. 3.48 ± 1.24), minML (2.88 ± 1.53 vs. 2.25 ± 1.09), AWE (2.15 ± 0.65 vs. 0.41 ± 0.67), and midAP (4.58 ± 1.61 vs. 2.48 ± 0.96). DFA showed MLOO, AWE, and midAP as the most accurate in distinguishing NPD cyst from the normal canal. When combined in the discriminant function equation X = 0.390·MLOO + 1.010·AWE + 0.288·midAP (cut score 1.669), the differentiation can be performed with a sensitivity and specificity of 98.8% and 76.9%, respectively. CONCLUSION: NPD cysts can be accurately distinguished from the normal nasopalatine canal by measuring MLOO, AWE, and midAP diameter on CBCT images.

Nasopalatine canal cyst, a diagnostic twist.

We present a case of nasopalatine duct cyst in a 35-yearold female. The cyst was diagnosed based on the presence of only one clinical symptom and no obvious clinical signs, which is a relatively rare occurrence. However, the radiographic and histological presentation of this lesion was typical of a nasopalatine duct cyst. Therefore, this case report aims to highlight the variable presentations of the nasopalatine cyst, which is often misdiagnosed and treated as an endodontic infection.

Computed Tomographic Evaluations in Patients with Empty Nose Syndrome.

OBJECTIVE: We aimed to evaluate computed tomography (CT) images of patients with empty nose syndrome (ENS), investigate the impact of reconstruction surgery on sinus inflammation, and identify the optimal airspace diameter after surgery. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective case series analysis, identifying and enrolling patients with ENS with perioperative CT findings. The clinical characteristics of the participants were collected, and the modified Lund-Mackay (mLM) CT scores were determined. The anterior airspace diameter was evaluated by measuring the distance between the septum and the lateral nasal wall on the coronal plane at the level of the nasolacrimal duct. RESULTS: Twenty patients with ENS and perioperative CT images were enrolled. The mean total mLM CT score and all subsite scores showed no significant changes after surgery. The Empty Nose Syndrome 6-item Questionnaire (ENS6Q) score, Sino-nasal Outcome Test-25 (SNOT-25) score, sleep symptoms domain, psychological domain, and empty nose symptoms domain were significantly associated with anterior airspace diameter in the regression analysis. CONCLUSION: There was no significant difference in sinus inflammation between preoperative and postoperative CT evaluations. The anterior airspace diameters were significantly associated with ENS6Q and SNOT-25 scores. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: 4 Laryngoscope, 134:2105-2110, 2024.

Comparative analysis of three common imaging modalities for nasolabial cysts.

OBJECTIVE: To compare the clinical diagnostic value of ultrasonography (USG), computed tomography (CT), and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for nasolabial cysts. METHODS: The clinical and imaging data of 20 patients with 21 nasolabial cysts confirmed surgically and histopathologically were retrospectively analyzed. RESULTS: The largest cyst was 3.4 × 2.7 × 2.3 cm, and the smallest cyst was 1.1 × 0.7 × 0.5 cm. All cysts were located in the soft tissue between the nasolabial fold and maxillary bone. USG showed sensitivity of 95%, accuracy of 95%, and a missed diagnosis rate of 5%; CT showed sensitivity of 80%, accuracy of 80%, and a missed diagnosis rate of 20%; and MRI showed sensitivity of 85%, accuracy of 85%, and a missed diagnosis rate of 15%. CONCLUSIONS: USG showed higher sensitivity and accuracy and a lower missed diagnosis rate than CT and MRI. Therefore, USG is worth popularizing on a large scale for the diagnosis of nasolabial cysts.

Rosai-Dorfman-Destombes (RDD) disease presenting as palindromic rheumatism.

BACKGROUND: Rosai-Dorfman-Destombes (RDD) disease, is a rare proliferative and inflammatory disorder of non-Langerhans cell histiocytes. CASE PRESENTATION: We report a 35-year-old woman, who originally presented with recurrent episodes of lower extremity joint/bone pain and chronic nasal stuffiness and congestion. Her worsening nasal congestion was due to an obstructing nasal cavity lesion which was subsequently biopsied. Pathology was consistent with RDD. 18F-FDG PET images demonstrated intense uptake in the paranasal sinuses and a large pelvic lymph node. Focal osseous lesions with intense 18F-FDG uptake were also observed in the lower extremity, corresponding to areas of peri-articular pain. Rheumatologic work-up was consistent with palindromic rheumatism. She was diagnosed with immune-related disseminated RDD, presenting as palindromic rheumatism. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first case of RDD presenting as palindromic rheumatism. RDD should be considered as a possible but rare diagnosis in young patients with sinus-related symptoms and lymphadenopathy. The disease can on rare occasions be disseminated and can also present as immune-related RDD, such as in this patient.

[Progress of the diagnosis and treatment of congenital nasal dermoid sinus cysts].

Congenital midline nasal masses are rare. Nasal dermoid sinus cysts（NDSC） are the most common type of the congenital midline nasal masses in childhood. Clinical manifestations are midline nasal cysts, fistula and intracranial attachments. Nasal encephalocele and glioma should be included in the differential diagnosis. Radiologic images are instructive. NDSC are easily misdiagnosed, leading to recurrence and surgical trauma affecting the face. Early appropriate surgical excision is recommended. This article reviews the embryology pathogenesis, progress of diagnosis and treatment of congenital NDSC.

Unique case of a post-traumatic nasoseptal arteriovenous malformation.

Extracranial manifestation of arteriovenous malformations (AVMs) is uncommon. Nasoseptal AVMs are an even rarer entity. In this case report, we present an interesting and first-of-its-kind case of the development of a left nasoseptal AVM in a 60-year-old man after a fall. This was likely post-traumatic, unlike the usual congenital AVMs described in the literature. The patient was managed conservatively with regular follow-up for the AVM as he was asymptomatic.

Prevalence of Frontal Sinus Aplasia in Jordanian Individuals.

Our paper aims to investigate the prevalence of frontal sinus aplasia among Jordanian individuals and compare it with values from different populations. Retrospectively, the study was done for 167 of the paranasal sinuses coronal tomography (CT) for patients who attended the clinic from January 2019 to August 2019 in King Abdullah University Hospital Irbid, Jordan. The authors analyzed the multiplanar CT scans to perform our work. The authors excluded the following images from our study: patients younger than 18 years old, patients with history of skull base trauma that impaired visualization of the frontal sinus, and images with fibro-osseous lesions that impaired the visualization of the frontal sinus. The prevalence of bilateral frontal sinus aplasia is 4.2% among Jordanian individuals and 6.6% is the prevalence of unilateral frontal sinus aplasia. Both values are consistent with average values among different populations. Moreover, we noticed the higher prevalence in both the bilateral and unilateral frontal sinus aplasia in males compared to females. The prevalence of frontal sinus aplasia among Jordanian individuals is almost within the same values among different populations. These numbers regarding the bilateral and unilateral frontal sinus aplasia is crucial to push the surgeon to evaluate CT of the paranasal sinuses preoperatively and focus on the presence of frontal sinuses on CT images to prevent unwanted complications during sinus surgeries.

Quiste nasolabial: reporte de dos casos / Nasolabial cysts: report of two cases

Los quistes nasolabiales son lesiones quísticas poco frecuentes, que se presentan como ocupación de la fosa canina, el ala nasal o el vestíbulo nasal. Usualmente son asintomáticas, pero pueden infectarse. El diagnóstico se realiza con el examen físico y exámenes imagenológicos, como la tomografía computarizada y/o resonancia magnética. El tratamiento consiste en la extirpación quirúrgica completa por abordaje sublabial, o por marsupialización endoscópica transnasal. Se describen dos casos, uno de ellos es una paciente de sexo femenino que presenta deformidad nasal producto del crecimiento progresivo de un quiste nasolabial unilateral, y otro de un paciente de sexo masculino que presenta una celulitis facial severa, con una tomografía computarizada que muestra quistes nasolabiales bilaterales. Los quistes nasolabiales deben ser considerados como parte del diagnóstico diferencial en otorrinolaringología en cuadros de deformidad nasal y aumento de volumen facial.

Nasolabial cysts are a rare developmental cyst, presenting as a fullness of canine fossa, nasal ala or vestibule of the nose. They are usually asymptomatic but may become infected. The diagnostic approach includes physical examination and imaging studies such as computed tomography and/or magnetic resonance imaging. Treatment is complete surgical excision by sublabial approach, or transnasal endoscopic marsupialization. Here we describe two cases, one female presenting as nasal deformity due to progressive growth of unilateral nasolabial cyst, and a healthy young male presenting severe facial cellulitis, with a computed tomography showing bilateral nasolabial cysts. Nasolabial cyst should be incorporated in the differential diagnosis of nose deformities and facial swelling in otorhinolaryngology.

A Rare Cause of Headache That Should Be Kept in Mind: Isolated Concha Bullosa Fungus Ball.

Concha bullosa is characterized by pneumotization of the middle turbinate and is a common variation of sinonasal anatomy and is often asymptomatic. The presence of a fungus ball in concha bullosa and the associated clinic symptoms are very rare. Concha bullosa fungus balls are a rare differential diagnosis in a patient presenting to the otorhinolaryngology outpatient clinic with headache.In this article, the authors aimed to present an isolated fungus ball case in concha bullosa as a rare cause of headache differential diagnosis.

The Effect of Immediate Versus Delayed Addition of the Nasal Stent to the Nasoalveolar Molding Plate on Nostrils Shape and Cleft Width in Infants With Unilateral Cleft Lip and Palate.

OBJECTIVE: The main aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of immediate versus delayed addition of the nasal stent to the nasoalveolar molding plate on the nose shape and alveolar cleft area in unilateral cleft lip and palate infants. METHOD: Twenty nonsyndromic newborn infants with unilateral cleft lip and palate were scanned 3 dimensionally using Proface software. In the experimental group, the nasal stent was added on the day the molding plate arrived, and in the control group when the alveolar gap reached 5 mm. Two months after adding nasal stents in each group patients' faces were scanned again and some parameters were measured. In addition, immediately after treatment, 1 month later and at the end of investigation, impressions were taken, and stone casts were scanned by cone-beam computed tomography and the alveolar gap was measured. Fisher exact test, paired t test, and ANOVA were used for data analyses. P < 0.05 was considered as significant. RESULTS: In this study, changes in the parameters showed significant differences between the case and controls for the columellar angle, nostril width on the cleft side, nostril height on the cleft side, soft tissue cleft width, and nasal surface area. However, the nostril's width and height in the noncleft side, intercommissural distance, nasal surface area on the noncleft side, nostril area between the cleft and noncleft side after treatment, and the alveolar gap did not show significant differences between the groups (P > 0.05). CONCLUSION: Early use of nasal stents showed more desirable results in decreasing the width of the nostrils and increasing its height and correcting the angle of the columella without any adverse effects on the nostrils after treatment.

Heminasal Reconstruction Utilizing Presurgical Planning, Template-Based Cartilage Reconstruction and Tissue Expansion.

Heminasal aplasia is a rare congenital nasal anomaly in which there is unilateral deficiency in both the external nasal anatomy and nasal airway. Unilateral failure in development of a nasal placode in embryogenesis is thought to be the underlying cause of this anomaly. The authors describe the reconstruction of heminasal aplasia in a teenager utilizing a templated cartilaginous framework and tissue expansion. The authors feel the satisfactory results of this technique will be of benefit to other surgeons who may encounter this rare anomaly.

An artificial intelligence algorithm that identifies middle turbinate pneumatisation (concha bullosa) on sinus computed tomography scans.

OBJECTIVE: Convolutional neural networks are a subclass of deep learning or artificial intelligence that are predominantly used for image analysis and classification. This proof-of-concept study attempts to train a convolutional neural network algorithm that can reliably determine if the middle turbinate is pneumatised (concha bullosa) on coronal sinus computed tomography images. METHOD: Consecutive high-resolution computed tomography scans of the paranasal sinuses were retrospectively collected between January 2016 and December 2018 at a tertiary rhinology hospital in Australia. The classification layer of Inception-V3 was retrained in Python using a transfer learning method to interpret the computed tomography images. Segmentation analysis was also performed in an attempt to increase diagnostic accuracy. RESULTS: The trained convolutional neural network was found to have diagnostic accuracy of 81 per cent (95 per cent confidence interval: 73.0-89.0 per cent) with an area under the curve of 0.93. CONCLUSION: A trained convolutional neural network algorithm appears to successfully identify pneumatisation of the middle turbinate with high accuracy. Further studies can be pursued to test its ability in other clinically important anatomical variants in otolaryngology and rhinology.

Three-Dimensional Printing of the Nasal Cavities for Clinical Experiments.

3D printing has produced many beneficial applications for surgery. The technique´s applicability in replicating nasal cavity anatomy for clinical use has not been studied. Our aim was to determine whether 3D printing could realistically replicate the nasal cavities and the airflow passing through them from a clinical point of view. We included Cone Beam Computed Tomography (CBCT) scans of five patients with symptoms of chronic nasal congestion. These CBCT scans were used to print plastic 3D prints of the nasal cavities, which were also CBCT scanned and the measurements were compared. The results in vivo were higher than the results in vitro in maxillary sinus volumes with a ratio of 1.05 ± 0.01 (mean ± SD) and in the nasal cavities with a ratio of 1.20 ± 0.1 (mean ± SD). Linear measurements in vitro were very close to those in vivo. Rhinomanometric results showed some differences, but rhinomanometric graphs in vitro were close to the graphs in vivo. 3D printing proved to be a suitable and fast method for replicating nasal cavity structures and for the experimental testing of nasal function. It can be used as a complementary examination tool for rhinomanometry.

A Very Rare Localization of Rhinolith: Fossa of Rosenmuller.

Sixty-five-year old male patient applied to our clinic with nonspecific complaints such as tinnitus, otalgia, headache, halitosis, and persistent globus pharyngeus which had been continued for 5 years. His complaints persisted despite different extensive treatments. In nasoendoscopy, a yellow-colored mass with purulent discharge around was observed in eustachian tube opening in left fossa of Rosenmüller. Computed tomography scan showed a mass of 6 × 6 mm size in left fossa of Rosenmüller. After excision of the mass under local anesthesia, significant reductions were observed in patient's symptoms. Histopathology of the mass was reported as rhinolith. Although fossa of Rosenmüller is a quite rare localization for rhinoliths, it needs to be considered in differential diagnosis of patients with nonspecific symptoms such as halitosis, globus pharyngeus, and otalgia. This report represents a patient with rhinolith localized in fossa of Rosenmüller as the 2nd report in the literature.

Is the maxillary sinus volume affected by concha bullosa, nasal septal deviation, and impacted teeth? A CBCT study.

PURPOSE: Various mechanisms play an important role in the growth of maxillary sinus cavities. The purpose of this study was to investigate the correlations of maxillary sinus volume (MSV) with nasal septal deviation (NSD), concha bullosa (CB) and impacted teeth using cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) images. METHODS: From 55 patients, a total of 110 maxillary sinus images were obtained and examined. Data including age, gender, impacted third molar, canine teeth, NSD, and CB were examined. MSV was measured using the MIMICS software (Materialise HQ Technologielaan, Leuven, Belgium). All statistical analyses were performed using the SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Sciences, version 21) software and p values < 0.05 were considered to indicate statistical significance. RESULTS: Mean volume of the right maxillary sinus was 13.566 cm3, while the left was 13.882 cm3. The rate of patients with right and left impacted third molar teeth was 49.1% and 47.3%, respectively. The rate of right and left impacted canines was 1.8% and 5.5%, respectively. NSD was found in 56.4% of CBCT examinations and right and left CB were observed in 30.9% and 32.7% of the patients' examinations, respectively. Males had a significantly higher mean sinus volume than females for both sides (p < 0.05). There were no significant correlations between MSV and age (p > 0.05). No significant differences were found between MSV and impacted teeth, NSD and CB (p > 0.05). CONCLUSION: NSD, CB, impacted teeth, and age were not found to be related to MSV. Gender had an effect on MSV and males had higher mean sinus volume than females.