April 25, 2003
Clinical and radiologic characteristics of the imploding antrum, or "silent sinus," syndrome
Ophthalmology,April,2003
Fourteen patients seven men and seven women, between the ages of 25 and 78 years (mean, 41.3 years), had unilateral enophthalmos, their having noted the anomaly for an average of 8 months (range, 1–36 months). On the affected side, there was 1 to 4 mm enophthalmos and up to 4 mm hypoglobus. The condition is characterized radiologically by a smooth inward bowing of the walls of the maxillary antrum on the affected side, with secondary enophthalmos and hypoglobus.
CONCLUSIONS: The silent sinus syndrome mainly presents as unilateral enophthalmos in younger people and has very characteristic clinical and radiologic signs with, in many cases, abnormal intranasal anatomic characteristics on the affected side. Although chronic and largely asymptomatic sinus disease may be the underlying cause, an acute event precipitates collapse of the orbital floor or (in fact) a widespread "implosion" of all antral walls resulting from maxillary atelectasis. Therefore, we prefer the term imploding antrum syndrome—describing the relatively acute, symptomatic, event—rather than the name silent sinus syndrome, which relates to a putative underlying mechanism.
Posted by afarahi at April 25, 2003 10:04 PM