Abstract
We treated 83 patients with postoperative maxillary cyst over the 11 year period from 1966 to 1976.
Onset occurred from 30 to 39 years of age in more than one third of all patients, and the latent period after the initial surgery to the onset of postoperative maxillary cyst was from 10 to 19 years in more than a half of the cases.
There was no statistically significant relationship between the latent period and age at the time of initial sergery.
The findings in the nasal cavity were abnormal in 47%, and the latent period of these patients was significantly shorter than those with normal findings in the nasal cavity.
The initial surgery was performed by means of the Caldwell-Luc's method in all cases, and closure of the natural ostium or the counter opening was noted in the majority of cases.
The etiology of postoperative maxillary cyst may be affected by many factors, but patients with abnormal findings in the nasal cavity which are of a relatively short latent period appeared to be caused by closure of the intranasal openings from the maxillary sinus to the nasal cavity rather than by incomplete resection of the sinus mucosa.
Prevention of closure of the intranasal openings should be given first consideration rather than the complete resection of the sinus mucosa in the initial surgery and the treatment for postoperative maxillary cyst.
