Abstract
We report three cases of sphenoid sinus retention cyst with headache treated in our department in which clinical improvement was achieved by surgery. Retention-cysts most commonly occur in the maxillary sinus, and they are infrequent in other paranasal sinuses. However, since no symptoms develop in the majority of cases, surgery is not performed. All 3 of our patients complained of headaches, and a CT scan revealed a cyst shadow in the sphenoid sinus on one side. We performed Endoscopic Sinus Surgery (ESS) by opening the sphenoid sinus and aspirating the cyst with a microdebrider, etc. The recovery process was good in all three cases, the headaches resolved, and no recurrences have been detected on CT scans. Based on these results, the retention cysts of the sphenoid sinus were concluded to have caused the headaches, and we concluded that surgical treatment must be considered in patients with headache. We considered the choices of surgical approaches to the sphenoid sinus lesion alone, dividing the approaches to the sphenoidal sinus into routes via the olfactory cleft, from the upper concha, the anterior ethmoid sinus in the middle meatus, and the posterior ethmoid sinus in the superior meatus.
