The relationship between accessory maxillary ostium, maxillary sinus pathologies, and sinonasal region variations

Introduction
The accessory maxillary ostium (AMO) is an anatomical variation that can be associated with the pathologies of the maxillary sinus, sinonasal variations, and dentition status.

Objectives
The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of AMO and its association with age, sex, sinus variation, pathological formations, the status of dentition, and tooth endodontic and periodontal status using cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT).

Material and methods
The retrospective analysis of CBCT scans from 390 patients over the age of 18 years (232 female and 158 male) was carried out in this study. All the CBCT images were analysed with sagittal, coro­nal, and axial sections. The intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC) was used to test intra-observer agreement. P-values of 0.05 were considered statistically significant at a 95% confidence interval (95% CI).

Results
In the present study, 780 sinuses from a total of 390 CBCT scans were analysed. The prevalence of AMO was 33.1% on the right side and 35.4% on the left. There was no statistically significant relationship between the presence of AMO and pathological formation in all individuals (p > 0.05). No statistically significant diffe­rence was observed between the prevalence of AMO and sinonasal variations.

Conclusions
There was no significant difference in AMO prevalence related to age, presence of mucosal thickness, mucus retention cysts, maxillary sinusitis, sinonasal variation, the status of dentition, and the periodontal status of posterior maxilla. However, there was a relationship between AMO and both sex and endodontic status.