The radiographic incidence of bony defects in the lateral lamella of the cribriform plate.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the incidence and radiographic characteristics of bony defects of the lateral lamella of the cribriform plate using a coronal computerised tomography (CT) scan. By retrospectively reviewing the coronal CT scans of 410 sinuses from 205 subjects, the overall incidence and the relationship to the subjects' age and depth of cribriform plate were analysed. Bony defects were identifiable in 59.5% of the sinuses. The incidence of a bony defect was not significantly different between the sinuses of the paediatric age group and the adult group. The sinuses having a deeper cribriform plate showed a higher incidence of bony defects in comparison with the sinuses with a less deep cribriform plate. The high incidence of radiologically detectable bony defects in this region may emphasize the particular risk of this area during endoscopic sinus surgery.