Assessment of Maxillary Sinus Wall Thickness with Paranasal Sinus Digital Tomosynthesis and CT

Abstract

Purpose:This study was performed to compare paranasal sinus tomosynthesis with computed tomography (CT) imaging as a radiologic tool to evaluate the paranasal sinuses, using measurement of the soft tissue thickness of the maxillary sinus. Materials and Methods: A total of 114 patients with sinusitis who underwent both paranasal sinus digital tomosynthesis (DT) and CT were enrolled in this retrospective study. Two observers independently assessed soft tissue thickness in both maxillary sinus chambers using both DT and CT images. Results: The mean difference in soft tissue thickness measured by each observer was -0.31 mm on CT and 0.15 mm on DT. The mean differences in soft tissue thickness measured with DT and CT were -0.15 by observer 1 and -0.31 by observer 2. Evaluation of the agreement in measurement of soft tissue thickness in the maxillary sinus using DT and CT showed a high intraclass correlation, with the 95% limit of agreement ranging from -3.36 mm to 3.06 mm [intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC), 0.994: p < 0.01] for observer 1 and from -5.56 mm to 4.95 mm (ICC, 0.984: p < 0.01) for observer 2. Conclusion: As an imaging tool, DT is comparable to CT for assessing the soft tissue thickness of maxillary sinuses in patients with sinusitis. Index terms

Deep Learning for Diagnosis of Paranasal Sinusitis Using Multi-View Radiographs

“…The reported sensitivity is relatively low for all sinuses (25-41%) except for maxillary sinusitis (80%) [4]. Because adjacent bony shadows can overlap the sinuses, the interpretation of radiographs for sinusitis is difficult even for experienced radiologists, particularly when judging whether thickened mucous membrane is present [10].…”