[The alveolar antral artery prevalence and topography according to literature review]

The lack of the available bone in the posterior maxilla is determined by the range of anatomical and topographical factors. Lateral sinus floor elevation is the procedure for vertical augmentation in this region. Several complications may occur while performing a lateral sinus lift and bleeding due to alveolar antral artery (AAA) damage is one of them.

The aim of the study is to analysis the different literature on AAA topographical features on cadaver species and on radiographic methods.

A search of the English language literature was performed by three independent readers in the PubMed electronic database. Articles published between 2013 and 2018 on cadaver and radiographic studies were included.

The analysis included 9 articles. AAA prevalence in cadavers was 100% but AAA bone signs in CBCT studies varied between 32% and 93%. The diameter varied from 0.91 mm to 3.6 mm, and the distances from AAA to the sinus floor and to the alveolar ridge crest were 7.38-9.97 and 14.6-18.66 mm respectively.

Our literature analysis showed the difference between AAA prevalence in cadavers and in CBCT scans. The results show that even proper pre-operative planning of the lateral sinus lift with CBCT cannot guarantee avoiding AAA damage while performing the surgery.