Age-Related Expansion and Reduction in Aeration of the Sphenoid Sinus: Volume Assessment by Helical CT Scanning
Koichi Yonetsua,
Masumi Watanabea and
Takashi Nakamura
,a
a From the Department of Radiology and Cancer Biology (K.Y., M.W., T.N.), Nagasaki University School of Dentistry, Nagasaki, Japan.
View larger version (71K):
[in a new window]
|
FIG 1. Age-related expansion in sphenoid aeration. Midsagittal reformatted images of 1.0-mm (A—C) or 1.5-mm (D) slice thickness obtained from helical CT data scanning with a collimation of 1 or 3 mm.
A, One-year-old boy shows no aeration of sphenoid bone.
B-D, Further expansions of sphenoid aeration to posterior and superior directions in a 5-year-old boy (B), 19-year-old man (C), and 29-year-old woman (D). Note closure of spheno-occipital suture in 19-year-old man (C).
| |
View larger version (37K):
[in a new window]
|
FIG 2. Aeration of sphenoid bone as evidenced by reformatted sagittal images. In this and subsequent figures, patient population was divided into first to seventh or older decades of life. Patients in first and second decades of life were further divided into two groups each. Each of the tandem bars in each age group represents percentage of subjects whose sphenoid aeration is classified into type I (black bar), II (gray bar), III (hatched bar), or IV (white bar). See Methods section for classification of sphenoid aeration.FIG 3. Age-related changes in volume of sphenoid aeration in 76 female and 85 male patients. Data are expressed as means ± SDs
| |
View larger version (47K):
[in a new window]
|
FIG 4. Degrees of aeration of peripheral portions of sphenoid bone. Each bar in each age group represents percentage of subjects whose peripheral portions of sphenoid bone are aerated. PP, pterygoid process; ACP, anterior clinoid process; DS, dorsum sella; PCP, posterior clinoid process
| |
AJNR - American Journal of Neuroradiology