Endoscopic Medial Maxillectomy With Preservation of Inferior Turbinate: Assessing Results by Acoustic Rhinometry

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study is to demonstrate the effectiveness of the Endoscopic Medial Maxillectomy technique with the preservation of the nasal anatomy and function of the inferior turbinate. METHODS: From January 2005 to December 2016, the authors performed 27 Endoscopic Medial Maxillectomy with preservation of inferior turbinate on 26 patients. The most frequent pathologies diagnosed were inverted papillomas (13/27) and antrochoanal polyps (7/27). There were 21 primary lesions and 6 patients had been previously treated. There were 19 males and 7 females. On 11 patients the authors could perform an acoustic rhinometry at 4 months postoperatively. RESULTS: The authors did not find any recurrences. In all cases the authors note the presence of the C-notch being the narrowest area of the nasal cavity, on both the surgical and nonsurgical nasal fossa. The mean area for the C-notch in the nonsurgical nasal cavities was 0.50 cm (0.18-0.82) and it was 0.57 cm (0.08-1.06) in the surgical nasal cavities. The increase of the C-notch after nasal decongestion was 0.10 cm in nonsurgical cavities and it was 0.03 cm in the surgical cavities. The mean distance for the C-notch was 2.18 cm and 2.36 cm before and after nasal decongestion in the nonsurgical fossae. In the surgical cavities were 2.31 and 2.37  cm respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The authors' rhinometrics data suggest that Endoscopic Medial Maxillectomy with preservation of inferior turbinate is an effective technique that preserves the anatomic structure and the functions of the inferior turbinate after its resection and reposition.