Relationship of Maxillary Sinus Volume and Pneumatization with Age and Gender

Introduction: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the association of maxillary sinus volume and pneumatization of the alveolar bone with age and gender. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on the computed tomography (CT) images of the healthy maxillary sinuses obtained from 199 adult patients. The sinus pneumatization of the alveolar bone was measured in each of the posterior teeth by means of the coronal CT images. The measurement of the three-dimensional sinus volume was accomplished using the Amira software. The data were analyzed through the Spearman correlation coefficient and regression analysis. Results: Out of the 199 patients, 159 and 40 cases were male and female with the age ranges of 18-92 and 18-68 years, respectively. The mean maxillary sinus volumes were 15.32±5.80 and 13.02±4.91 ml in the males and females, respectively, which were significantly different between the two genders in both left and right sinuses. In this regard, the independent t-test showed that the mean volumes of the right and left maxillary sinuses in men were greater than those in women (P=0.001 and P=0.008, respectively). There was a significant relationship between age and maxillary sinus volume (r<-0.15, P=0.03), indicating that the sinus volume decreases with aging. A high correlation was obtained between the volume of the maxillary sinus and alveolar bone pneumatization (r=0.58 for the right sinus and r=0.72 for the left sinus). T-test showed that the pneumatization was greater in men than that in women; however, it was not significant. Additionally, the Spearman correlation test showed no correlation between age and alveolar bone pneumatization. Conclusions: The findings of this study showed that maxillary sinus volume was higher in men than that in women, and that this volume decreased with aging. Furthermore, the mean of alveolar bone pneumatization was not correlated with age and showed no significant difference between the two genders.