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Updated: Oct 15, 2025

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Published on: January 17, 2018
Anatomical Variants, Pneumatization Classification, and Volumetric Studies of the Sphenoid Sinus With High-Resolution
Objectives:
Aimed to explore the correlation between the volume of the sphenoid sinuses (SS) and sex, age, pneumatization and its anatomical variant types.
Material And Methods:
Retrospectively evaluated high-resolution computed tomography images of 170 individuals; were studied by ITK-SNAP software to measure the volume of SS.
Results:
The average volume of SS was a significant difference between the gender, the volume of SS in the elderly group (≥65 years old) showed a downward trend. The volume of the SS in the variants of the anterior clinoid processes, pterygoid processes, greater wings, and clivus were significantly higher than in the nonvariants (P < 0.05). With the expansion of pneumatization, the optic nerve (CNII) type 3-4, the internal carotid artery (ICA) type 2-3 and the septal insertion on the ICA have a larger volume, while the occurrence of septal insertion on only the CNII was not correlated with the volume (P > 0.05).
Conclusions And Significance:
The volume of SS is closely related to age, sex, the type of pneumatization and anatomical variation. High-resolution computed tomography can facilitate a precise study of anatomical variations and adjacent structures and help ensure the safety of an operation.
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