Taiwanese Population Prevalence of Frontal Sinus Architecture Variations and Relationships with Frontal Sinusitis in Comparison to Worldwide Prevalence

Abstract Background: Understanding the structural anatomy of the frontal sinus, frontal recess, and drainage pathway is essential for ensuring the success of frontal sinusitis surgery. Aim: The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships between frontal sinus architecture variants and frontal sinusitis development in the Taiwanese and worldwide population by providing a thorough analysis of the prevalence of these variants. Methods: In total, 284 sides were gathered from 142 computed tomography scans in the retrospective analysis, with independent assessments for the left and right sides. The International Frontal Sinus Anatomy Classification (IFAC) was used to determine the prevalence of each kind of frontal sinus cell. In addition, the PubMed database was used to search for articles analyzing the prevalence of frontal sinus cells based on the IFAC. A total of 11 articles were analyzed, including our analysis of the prevalence in the Taiwanese population. Results: The results showed that with an appearance in 90.5% of the patients in the Taiwanese population and 92.5% worldwide, the agger nasi cells were the most frequently occurring cell in the population. In 17.3% of instances, frontal sinusitis was present; in 82.7% of cases, it was missing. None of the frontal cell variations were shown to be significantly associated with the development of frontal sinusitis (all P > 0.05). Conclusion: This study documents the prevalence of frontal cell types based on the IFAC system in a Taiwanese population and the global population. While this article did not establish a direct association between frontal sinus cells and frontal sinusitis, these frontal sinus cells do indeed influence the drainage of frontal sinus secretions.