Anatomic Changes of Intranasal and Surrounding Bony Structures in Patients with Nasal Septal Deviation: A CT Analysis

Koo, Bon Seok; Jin, Yong De; Park, Chan Hee; Park, Young Kyu; Park, Seok Won; Rha, Ki Sang

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES
In the cases of nasal septal deviation (NSD), bilateral nasal structures, such as inferior turbinate, nasal floor, or lateral nasal wall, are often asymmetric. These patterns may be somewhat uniform according to the direction of septal deviation. The aims of this study are to establish the anatomical patterns of the intranasal and surrounding bony structures in the cases of NSD by using radiologic measurement. SUBJECTS AND METHOD: We took OMU CT scans of 38 adult non-traumatic NSD patients without concurrent sinonasal inflammation. For each patient, we selected 4 consecutive coronal images of the most severely deviated portion for the measurement. We set various parameters which could reflect the anatomic patterns of the bony structures, then measured them in the selected images. RESULTS: The levels of bilateral nasal floors were not the same, and the floor of nasal cavity was significantly declined to convex side. The angle of lateral nasal wall was significantly larger in the concave side than in the convex side. The horizontal width or the angle of the inferior turbinate was significantly larger in the concave side than in the convex side. CONCLUSION: In the cases of NSD, the symmetry of bilateral intranasal or surrounding bony structures was altered significantly, and its pattern was uniform according to the direction of deviation. These findings suggest that non-traumatic NSD may be the result of asymmetric growth of facial bones.