[Upper aerodigestive infections and their effect on sphenoidal sinus development]

Paranasal sinuses development and its ultimate mode of happening as well, has been the purpose of numerous hypotheses, that can be synthetized in this two: One which sees the pneumatization as mechanical event resulting from muscular tractions exerted on the sphenoidal sinus walls and another one supposing the pneumatization as an active phenomenon due to the osteoclastic potential of the same respiratory mucous membrane. In this work were employed 200 radiogramms belonging both to patients suffering chronic ENT infections and subjects without antecedents. The conclusion drawn out are that chronic infections do not modify the percentage of pneumatization types, but reduce the anteroposterior maximal diameter.