Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Supra Maxillary Cell (SMC): An Anatomical variant of Ethmoid Sinus

  • Clinical Report
  • Published:
Indian Journal of Otolaryngology and Head & Neck Surgery Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

65 year old female presented with complaints of Right sided nasal obstruction of 1 year duration, intermittent nasal discharge for the past 6 months, without much significant improvement in medical management. Computerized tomography of paranasal sinuses revealed presence of supra maxillary cell (SMC) which was infected, along with sphenoid sinus (Heterodense lesion—suggestive of probable Fungal sinusitis). Patient underwent Functional Endoscopic Sinus Surgery with Septoplasty under local anesthesia. Among the paranasal sinuses, the ethmoid sinus has the largest number of anatomical variations. Important structures near the ethmoid sinus are usually in danger during the endoscopic sinus surgery due to its extreme anatomical variations. Posterior ethmoid cells can also expand towards and into the Maxillary sinus, which drains into the superior nasal meatus, referred to as the Ethmo maxillary sinus. This clinical report highlights about similar  anatomical variation in the paranasal sinuses. We report a case of similar type of cell, only difference is it drains into middle meatus, situated mostly over the maxillary sinus alone along its entire width and the senior author has coined a term for it as supra maxillary cell (SMC).

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Liu J, Dai J, Wen X, Wang Y, Zhang Y, Wang N (2018) Imaging and anatomical features of ethmomaxillary sinus and its differentiation from surrounding air cells. Surg Radiol Anat 40(2):207–215

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Sirikçi A, Bayazit YA, Bayram M, Kanlikama M (2004) Ethmomaxillary sinus: a particular anatomic variation of the paranasal sinuses. Eur Radiol 14(2):281–285

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Ozcan KM, Selcuk A, Oruk V, Sarikaya Y, Dere H (2008) Ethmomaxillary sinus. Eur Arch Otorhinolaryngol 265(2):185–188

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Gonçalves FG, Jovem CL, Moura LO (2011) Computed tomography of intra and extramural ethmoid cells: iconographic essay. Radiol Bras 44(5):321–326

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Sarna A, Hayman LA, Laine FJ, Taber KH. Coronal imaging of the osteomeatal unit: anatomy of 24 variants. J Comput Assist Tomogr 26(1):153–157

    Google Scholar 

  6. Reddy UD, Dev B (2012) Pictorial essay: anatomical variations of paranasal sinuses on multidetector computed tomography—How does it help FESS surgeons? Indian J Radiol Imaging 22(4):317–324

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  7. Gore MR (2019) The supraseptal ethmoid sinus cell: a previously unreported ethmoid sinus variant. Clin Case Rep 7:1306–1308.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  8. Narendrakumar V, Subramanian V (2016) Anatomical variations in ostiomeatal complex among patient undergoing functional endoscopic sinus surgery. Clin Rhinol Int J 9(1):28–32

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Khanobthamchai K, Shankar L, Hawke M, Bingham B (1991) Ethmomaxillary sinus and hypoplasia of maxillary sinus. J Otolaryngol 20:425–427

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Herzallah IR, Saati FA, Marglani OA, Simsim RF (2016) Retromaxillary pneumatization of posterior ethmoid air cells: novel description and surgical implications. Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg 155(2):340–346

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Funding

None.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Ahilasamy ENT Centre, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, 600 042, India

    Nagalingeswaran Ahilasamy

  2. Pragathi ENT Clinic, Chrompet, Chennai, 600044, India

    Veerasigamani Narendrakumar

  3. Department of ENT and Head-Neck Surgery, Rajarajeshwari Medical College and Hospital, Bengaluru, 560074, Karnataka, India

    Dinesh Kumar Rajendran

Authors
  1. Nagalingeswaran Ahilasamy
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Veerasigamani Narendrakumar
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Dinesh Kumar Rajendran
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Nagalingeswaran Ahilasamy.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interests

All authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical Approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Informed Consent

Informed consent was obtained from individual participant included in the study.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Ahilasamy, N., Narendrakumar, V. & Rajendran, D.K. Supra Maxillary Cell (SMC): An Anatomical variant of Ethmoid Sinus. Indian J Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg 74 (Suppl 2), 870–874 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12070-020-01947-1

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12070-020-01947-1

Keywords

Search

Navigation