Radiology and endoscopic findings of silent maxillary sinus atelectasis and enophthalmos

Silent sinus syndrome: systematic review and proposal of definition, diagnosis and management

Silent sinus syndrome (SSS) is a rare disease consisting of a collapse of maxillary sinus walls with concomitant orbital floor descent. Due to its rareness, the literature highlights some confusion on its definition, diagnosis and management. A PRISMA-compliant systematic review was performed on SSS with focus on definition, diagnosis and therapeutic management. Twenty-eight studies were selected, with 276 patients evaluated. The analysis revealed that the leading definition of SSS includes evidence of both enophtalmos and maxillary atelectasia. Although the definition of SSS accepts only spontaneous sinus collapse, the presence of sinonasal diseases and history of facial trauma are starting to be included in the criteria. Most studies (n = 21) considered CT scans satisfactory for diagnosis of SSS, while 7 also performed MR. The majority of SSS were successfully treated with isolated functional endoscopic sinus surgery (n = 17), sparing orbital reconstruction as a rescue procedure in case of non-satisfactory long-term resolution of signs. Although the literature is starting to coordinate on diagnosis of SSS, our review revealed the necessity of consensus on its definition and management.

Salivary biomarkers and proteomics: future diagnostic and clinical utilities

Saliva testing is a non-invasive and inexpensive test that can serve as a source of information useful for diagnosis of disease. As we enter the era of genomic technologies and -omic research, collection of saliva has increased. Recent proteomic platforms have analysed the human salivary proteome and characterised about 3000 differentially expressed proteins and peptides: in saliva, more than 90% of proteins in weight are derived from the secretion of three couples of "major" glands; all the other components are derived from minor glands, gingival crevicular fluid, mucosal exudates and oral microflora. The most common aim of proteomic analysis is to discriminate between physiological and pathological conditions. A proteomic protocol to analyze the whole saliva proteome is not currently available. It is possible distinguish two type of proteomic platforms: top-down proteomics investigates intact naturally-occurring structure of a protein under examination; bottom-up proteomics analyses peptide fragments after pre-digestion (typically with trypsin). Because of this heterogeneity, many different biomarkers may be proposed for the same pathology. The salivary proteome has been characterised in several diseases: oral squamous cell carcinoma and oral leukoplakia, chronic graft-versus-host disease Sjögren's syndrome and other autoimmune disorders such as SAPHO, schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, and genetic diseases like Down's Syndrome and Wilson disease. The results of research reported herein suggest that in the near future human saliva will be a relevant diagnostic fluid for clinical diagnosis and prognosis.

Silent sinus syndrome and maxillary sinus atelectasis in children

OBJECTIVE

Silent sinus syndrome (SSS) and chronic maxillary atelectasis (CMA) are unusual conditions having subtle symptoms with a possible progressive evolution. They are particularly infrequent in the pediatric population. Our objective was to review our experience with pediatric patients having SSS or CMA, and to review all cases involving patients under 14 years of age reported in the literature.

METHODS

A retrospective review of 6 patients diagnosed with SSS or CMA surgically treated from 2001 to 2014 was carried out. All cases reported in literature were reviewed.

RESULTS

All patients underwent functional endoscopic sinus surgery with an improvement in symptoms after surgery. Diplopia disappeared in two patients who presented with it and enophthalmos improved in all five patients presenting with it. Only one patient out of four presenting with headache had a persistence of the symptoms which were, however, milder than they had been preoperatively. Endoscopic examination demonstrated a reventilated maxillary sinus in all cases. A radiological examination at follow-up was performed in 5 cases and demonstrated a reexpansion of the maxillary sinus as compared to the contralateral side in all patients except one. None of the patients required an orbital floor reconstruction. Eleven similar cases reported in the literature were analyzed and compared.

CONCLUSION

Endoscopic uncinectomy and middle meatal antrostomy should be the treatment of choice for these conditions in patients presenting with enophthalmos and/or hypoglobus and symptoms related to it. Orbital floor reconstruction should be performed as a delayed procedure only in selected cases. Chronic maxillary atelectasis or SSS should be considered as a possible cause of persistent headache of unknown origin in pediatric patients.

Imaging for headache: what the otolaryngologist looks for

Diagnosing a rhinogenic cause of headache or facial pain outside of the classic definitions of chronic, acute, and subacute sinusitis can be challenging for the practicing otolaryngologist. Contact-point headaches have been clinically characterized as causing facial pain secondary to abutting mucosal contact from the lateral nasal wall to the septum. Imaging landmarks may help identify these potential contact points radiographically through revealing anatomic variants such as septal spurs and abnormally large lateral nasal structures. However, other potential rhinologic sources, such as barosinusitis, recurrent barotrauma, or recurrent acute sinusitis occurring between active episodes, are challenging to identify through hallmark imaging findings.

Single surgical step for endoscopic surgery and orbital reconstruction of a silent sinus syndrome

Silent sinus syndrome (SSS) is an uncommon disease characterised by enophthalmos, caused by ipsilateral maxillary sinus atelectasis. The diagnosis is clinical with radiological confirmation. The treatment has two objectives: to regulate the aeration of the maxillary sinus through achieving normal nasal cavity drainage and to restore the orbital architecture. A case of SSS treated in our hospital in a single surgical intervention is reported.

Enophthalmos due to atelectasis of the maxillary sinus: silent sinus syndrome

Silent sinus syndrome is a clinical entity with the constellation of progressive enophthalmos and hypoglobus due to gradual collapse of the orbital floor with opacification of the maxillary sinus, in the presence of subclinical maxillary sinusitis. It occurs secondary to maxillary sinus hypoventilation due to obstruction of the ostiomeatal unit. In this paper, a 35-year-old woman with a complaint of asymmetry in her left eye and denting of upper eyelid was reported. In the left eye, upper sulcus was deepened and there was 3-mm hypoglobus. There was no diplopia or restriction of eye movements in any gaze positions. Hertel exophthalmometry revealed a 4-mm enophthalmos on the left eye. Computed tomographic scan of the orbita and paranasal sinuses showed left maxillary sinusitis, air-fluid level, and collapse of left maxillary sinus walls. In addition, inferior bulging in the left orbital floor was also reported. The treatment was a 2-stage operation. In the first stage, she underwent endoscopic septoplasty plus left maxillary antrostomy, and in the second stage, she underwent a subciliary orbital floor repair of the iliac bone resulting in the improvement of the enophthalmos and her cosmetic appearance. Regarding this case, the literature is also reviewed in detail.