Case Report
Repetitive Sinus-Related Symptoms May Accelerate the
Progression of Chronic Maxillary Atelectasis
Shu Kikuta, Kyohei Horikiri, Kaori Kanaya, Ryoji Kagoya,
Kenji Kondo, and Tatsuya Yamasoba
Department of Otolaryngology, Graduate School of Medicine, University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8655, Japan
Correspondence should be addressed to Shu Kikuta; sh-kiku@m.u-tokyo.ac.jp
Received 22 March 2017; Accepted 5 June 2017; Published 3 July 2017
Academic Editor: Marco Berlucchi
Copyright © 2017 Shu Kikuta et al. is is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License,
which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Chronic maxillary atelectasis (CMA) is characterized by a progressive decrease in maxillary sinus volume. e factors that promote
the stage progression of CMA remain poorly understood. Here, we describe the time course of anatomical changes in a 40-year-old
woman with stage II CMA that progressed to stage III disease. She did not show stage progression until she started to develop
repetitive sinus-related symptoms. e stage progression was characterized by ocular symptoms. e repetitive inflammatory
episodes may have increased the negative pressure in the affected sinus and weakened the bone walls, thereby promoting stage
progression. us, a history of repetitive sinus-related symptoms may be a risk factor for stage progression in CMA.
1. Introduction
Chronic maxillary atelectasis (CMA) is characterized by a
persistent and progressive decrease in the maxillary sinus
volume and occlusion of the infundibulum as a result of
inward bowing of the antral walls [1–4]. CMA is categorized
into three stages on the basis of the degree of sinus wall
deformation. Stage I is characterized by a lateralized max-
illary fontanel (membranous deformity); stage II is defined
as inward bowing of one or more of the osseous walls (bone
deformity); and stage III is characterized by enophthalmos,
hypoglobus, and/or midfacial deformity (clinical deformity)
[1, 5]. Although several authors have previously reported
cases of patients with CMA [2, 6–9], they only described
the condition at one time point. We speculated that if
we followed CMA patients as they progressed through the
various stages of CMA, we might be able to identify factors
that predict stage progression. We report here the case of a
patient with stage II CMA who did not exhibit progression
until she developed repetitive sinus-related symptoms. is
development might be associated with the progression of the
disease to stage III CMA. Our observations suggest that a
history of repetitive sinus-related symptoms may be a risk
factor for stage progression in CMA.
2. Case Presentation
A 40-year-old Hungarian woman suddenly noticed upgaze
diplopia and right cheek compression when she woke up in
the morning. Shortly thereaſter, she consulted an ophthal-
mologist and then an otolaryngologist in another hospital.
e investigations suggested that she had a carcinoma in
the pterygopalatine fossa on the right side. erefore, the
otolaryngologist referred the patient to our institution for
further examination. Examination of the facial appearance of
the patient indicated more deepening of the right upper eyelid
sulcus than the leſt eyelid sulcus (Figure 1(a)). An endoscopic
examination showed that the right uncinate process could not
be clearly detected and seemed to adhere to the medial wall
of the maxillary sinus (Figure 1(b)). Computed tomography
(CT) imaging then revealed inferior bowing of the floor of
the orbit into the right maxillary sinus, lateral driſting of the
right uncinate process into close contact with the floor of
the orbit, and partial opacification of the maxillary sinus and
anterior ethmoidal cells (Figure 1(c)). Magnetic resonance
imaging (MRI) findings confirmed prolapse of the inferior
inward retraction of the posterior, lateral, and medial walls
of the maxillary sinus on the right side (Figure 1(d)). e
patient had not experienced any trauma and did not have
Hindawi
Case Reports in Otolaryngology
Volume 2017, Article ID 4296195, 5 pages
https://doi.org/10.1155/2017/4296195