Prevalence of the anatomical variations of concha bullosa and its relation with sinusitis among Saudi population: a computed tomography scan study

Abstract

Concha bullosa (CB) is a pneumatic cavitation inside a concha in the nasal cavity. It is one of the most widely recognized nasal variations and is mostly found in the middle concha. CB is divided according to its site into three types; lamellar, bulbous and extensive. The goal of our study was to estimate the prevalence of CB among Saudi adult population and its association with sinusitis by using multidetector computed tomography (MDCT). This was a retrospective study carried out over a three-year period on 879 adult Saudi patients aged 18 years or older, referred for MDCT assessment of paranasal sinuses. Males were 540 and females were 339. Patients with facial congenital anomalies or nasal trauma were excluded from our study. CB was prevalent in both males and females among Saudi population (55.4%, 55.7%) respectively. Bilateral CB (55.5%) was more frequent than unilateral (44.5%). Extensive CB (44.0%) was the most frequent type. Sinusitis was associated more in patients with CB (48.0%) versus those who have no CB (5.9%). In conclusion, CB was prevalent among Saudi population and the most frequently recorded is the extensive type. Furthermore, the most common type associated with sinusitis was extensive CB (49.6%).

Radiological anatomical variations of the lateral nasal wall and anterior skull base amongst different populations: A systematic review and meta‐analysis

“…A total of 56 studies with 11 805 persons were included. All studies 13–66 involved a single population except for two studies 5,67 which recruited two distinct populations in each study. The studies were from 27 countries which can be divided into seven regions specifically Africa, Asia, Australia‐New Zealand‐Oceania, North America, South America, Europe and Middle East.…”

Giant concha bullosa presented as left nasal mass: a case report and literature review

“…The amount of pneumatization and inflammation in CB may be correlated with symptoms of the adjacent structures [ 8 ]. Symptoms include nasal obstruction, headaches, and smell disturbances [ 4 ]. As a result of the inflammation process it may lead to hypertrophy and even polyp formation [ 4 ].…”

“…Patients are usually asymptomatic, unless they have hyper-pneumatization, and they will present with symptoms, such as nasal obstruction, headache, and chronic sinusitis [ 1 , 3 ]. Nevertheless, any disease process of the paranasal sinus can impact the CB resulting in mucocele, pyocele, and mucocele thickening [ 4 , 5 ]. However, the outcomes of this are still infrequent.…”

Infected Concha Bullosa Mucocele: A Case Report

“…Concha bullosa (CB) is a unilateral or bilateral pneumatization of the nasal conchae and a common sinonasal anatomical variant with prevalence rates of 14%-53% [ 1 ]. CB is often asymptomatic and is mostly an incidental finding on computed tomography (CT) [ 2 ].…”

“…CB occurs when a pneumatic expansion from anterior ethmoid cells or less usually from posterior cells invades the middle concha of the nasal cavity. Generally, a CB has only one air cell, and many air cells within a CB are unusual [ 1 ]. CB is categorized according to the anatomical location.…”