Alveolar Recess Cell (ARC): A Newly Described Intra Maxillary Sinus Cell with Variable Pneumatisation of Alveolar Process of Maxilla

Indian J Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2024 Feb;76(1):485-489. doi: 10.1007/s12070-023-04189-z. Epub 2023 Sep 7.

Abstract

Anatomical variations in the maxillary sinus pneumatisation are limited unlike the ethmoids. We present rare variations of the maxillary sinus along its floor other than septations and includes wide pneumatisation of alveolar and palatal recess with cell formation. An intra-maxillary cell that opens into the maxillary infundibulum well within the sinus is described here and our senior author has coined the new term-alveolar recess cell. Its involvement in the sinus pathologies and additional surgical approaches for the disease clearance is discussed here.

Keywords: Alveolar recess cell; CT PNS; FESS; Fungal sinusitis; Inferior meatal antrostomy; Pneumatisation; Pre lacrimal.