The radiological appearance of the post-Caldwell-Luc maxillary sinus

A review of the radiographic findings in 19 patients who had undergone unilateral or bilateral Caldwell-Luc procedures for chronic maxillary sinusitis revealed improvement in the radiographic appearance of the sinuses in 13 and lack of improvement, progression or recurrence of disease in six. Eight of the patients had changes which could be attributed directly to surgery. These included fibro-osseous proliferation in five, antral contraction in four and compartmentalisation in two. Follow-up studies, including pluridirectional tomography and computed tomography, can reliably distinguish post-operative changes from recurrent disease in the patient who has undergone this type of radical maxillary antrostomy.