Prevalence of agger nasi cell in the Turkish population; an anatomical study with computed tomography

Yakup Yegin, Mustafa Çelik1, Baver Maşallah Şimşek1, Burak Olgun1, Sinan Canpolat2, Fatma Tülin Kayhan1

1Bakırköy Dr. Sadi Konuk Eğitim ve Araştırma Hastanesi, Kulak Burun Boğaz Kliniği, İstanbul, Türkiye
2Siirt Devlet Hastanesi, Kulak Burun Boğaz Kliniği, Siirt, Türkiye

Keywords: Agger nasi, anatomy; endoscopic sinus surgery; paranasal sinus.

Abstract

Objectives: This study aims to investigate the prevalence of agger nasi (AN) cell in the Turkish population.
Patients and methods: Between January 2012 and March 2015, a total of 1,246 patients (527 female, 719 male; mean age 33.2±12.8 years; range 18 to 80
years) who were admitted to the otorhinolaryngology clinic because of nasal congestion and underwent paranasal sinus computed tomography (CT) scans were included in this study. The presence of the AN cell per right and left sides was recorded and analyzed separately by CT scans.
Results: At the right side analysis, the AN cell was identified in 709 patients (56.9%), while it was not identified in 537 patients (43.1%). At the left side analysis, the AN cell was identified in 704 patients (56.5%), while it was not in 542 patients (43.5%). We found the prevalence of the AN cell in 56.7% of the patients. At the right side, the AN cell was identified in 429 male patients (59.6%) and in 280 female patients (53.1%). At the left side, the AN cell was identified in 434 male patients (60.3%) and in 270 female patients (51.2%).
Conclusion: The AN cell is one of the important anatomical structures in frontal sinus surgery. As the varying AN prevalence studies conducted in different populations may arise from differences in the anatomical identification, we think ethnicity to be also effective.