The relationship between anatomic variations of middle turbinate and anterior sinusitis

Objective To explore the relationship between anatomic variations of middle the turbinate and the anterior sinusitis.Methods 754 coronal CT scans of the paranasal sinuses were divided into two groups; those without paranasal sinusitis were enrolled in the normal group(group A),those with ethmoid or maxillary sinusitis were enrolled in the anterior sinusitis group(group B).The prevalence of different anatomic variations in group A and B such as pneumatization of the middle turbinate(MT),paradoxical middle turbinate,straight middle turbinate were calculated.Then the results were analyzed.Results The prevalence of the straight middle turbinate between group A and B were statistically significant(P0.05).But the prevalences of pneumatization of the MT,paradoxical middle turbinate were not statistically significant(P0.05).The true concha bullosa in group B were more than that in group A(P0.05).Conclusion The straight middle turbinate may play a role in the anterior sinusitis; there is no significant relationship between the anterior sinusitis and pneumatization of the MT,paradoxical middle turbinate,but the true concha bullosa is easier to cause the anterior sinusitis.