The analysis of maxillary sinus aeration according to aging process; volume assessment by 3-dimensional reconstruction by high-resolutional CT scanning.

Objective: To evaluate change of the maxillary sinus volume according to patient age and gender by using a 3-dimensional (3-D) reconstruction of computed tomography images.

Study Design And Setting: One hundred seventy-three people (totaling 238 maxillary sinuses) who had undergone paranasal sinus CT scan between December 2000 and November 2003 and had no evidence of inflammation or hypoplasia in the CT finding and had no specific history of paranasal sinus surgery or maxillofacial trauma were retrospectively analyzed. The 3-D reconstruction images were obtained by using a surface-rendering technique (Vworks; CybeMed, Seoul, Korea) on a personal computer. The mean volume of maxillary sinus was evaluated according to patient chronologic age and gender. The ratio of the maximum horizontal and half-horizontal extension for the estimation of the morphological change of maxillary sinus and the degree of descent of the sinus below the nasal floor were evaluated in the 3-D image.

Results: The development of the maxillary sinus continued until the 3rd decade in males and until the 2nd decade in females. The mean maxillary sinus volume in early adults was 24,043 mm 3 (males) and 15,859.5 mm 3 (females). There was a significance difference in the sinus volume ( P < 0.05) according to gender, and there was a significant difference in the maxillary sinus volume according to age before it reached maximum. After its maximum growth period, however, there was no significant difference in the volume change of maxillary sinus and the descent below the nasal floor between two adjacent groups.

Conclusions: The growth of the maxillary sinus continues until the 3rd decade in males and the 2nd decade in females. Therefore, a maxillary sinus operation affecting the bony structures before these ages might affect the development of the sinus and needs to be performed carefully.