Abstract
The majority of malignant tumors of the paranasal sinus are squamous cell carcinomas and arise most commonly in the maxillary sinus, and less commonly in the nasal cavity and other sinuses. Glandular tumors (nonsquamous tumors) develop much less commonly and have a different distribution within the paranasal sinuses. The majority of adenomatous tumors arise from the surface mucosa and submucosal seromucinous glands. Attempts to explain tumorigenesis propose that the distribution of these tumors is based on the variance of different cell types among the sinuses. The authors used morphometric analysis to measure the relative density of goblet cells and basal cells from maxillary and sphenoid sinus specimens. Surgical specimens of normal maxillary and sphenoid mucosa were retrieved from 5 and 10 patients, respectively. All specimens were stained with periodic acid-Schiff stain. The area of tablet and basal cells in jive representative areas of each specimen were measured and compared to the total cross-sectional area of the mucosa, giving a relative density of each cell type. The average goblet cell density was 31.99% (SD ± 10.27%) in maxillary tissue and 33.25% (SD ± 20.80%) in sphenoid tissue. Student's t-test showed no statistically significant difference in goblet cell density between the two sinuses. The average basal cell density was 9.53% (SD ± 0.87%) for maxillary tissue and 10.91% (SD ± 1.91%) for sphenoid tissue. Again, no statistically significant difference between the two sinuses existed. In conclusion, there is no clearly detectable difference in the histologic composition of these two paranasal sinuses to explain the different incidence of glandular tumors, and other etiologic factors must be considered in explaining tumorigenesis at these sites.
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