Visibility of infraorbital ethmoid air cell on panoramic radiographs

Presence of Haller cells with or without disease can narrow the ethmoid infundibulum or ostium of maxillary antrum and result in persistent rhinosinusitis, recurrent sinusitis, and other clinical symptoms, so detection of haller cells in common panoramic radiographs can be useful in diagnosis of the origin of these problems. The purpose of the present study was to determine the prevalence of infraorbital ethmoid cells on panoramic radiographs. Methods and Materials: Panoramic radiographs of 310 patients were evaluated according to the method of Ahmad et al. to detect infraorbital ethmoid cells. A well defined radiolucency was located medial to infraorbital foramen, wherever most of its border was visible and caused lack of cortication in inferior border of the orbit in the superimposition areas, was interpreted as infraorbital ethmoid cell. The radiographs were interpreted by three observers. the data were analyzed by Binary logistic regression test in SPSS software.

Data from 310 panoramic radiographs were analyzed. 37% of radiographs were interpreted as to show infraorbital ethmoid cells.

Infraorbital ethmoid cell might be considered as a quite common anatomic landmark, visible on panoramic radiographs. From a clinical point of view, this may be of diagnostic importance, because it has been stated that detection of haller cells may lead to detection of the origin of a number of sinus problems.