ABSTRACT
Background: Two-dimensional (2D) radiographic techniques are commonly used for assessing lesion prognosisafter endodontic surgery. The present retrospective cohort study analyzes the sensitivity and ability of differentradiographic techniques in obtaining area and volume measurements of periapical lesions.Material and Methods: Preoperative and follow-up (6-48 months) periapical and panoramic radiographs (indextest) and cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) images (reference standard) were selected from an endodonticmicrosurgery database. Sensitivity was analyzed independently by two examiners. The areas of the 2D radio-graphic images and CBCT volumes were studied using Itk-Snap software and Romexis viewer.Results: The sample comprised 105 patients and 105 teeth, with a mean follow-up of 21 months (range 6-48). Preop-eratively, CBCT detected all the periapical areas, periapical radiography detected 67, and panoramic radiographydetected 60. Postoperatively, of the 52 cases in which CBCT detected remains of the periapical area, periapical ra-diography detected 22, and panoramic radiography detected 17. The measurements of the areas obtained by the 2Dmethods, and the volumes obtained by CBCT, had to be transformed into linear measures for comparison purpos-es. The measurements were found to be significantly different in both the preoperative and the follow-up images. Conclusions: Periapical radiography showed greater sensitivity than panoramic radiography, both preoperatively andat follow-up. The lesions measured with CBCT were larger, with significant differences than as evidenced by theperiapical and panoramic radiographs.(AU)