Clinical, radiological and surgical correlation in cancers of the paranasal sinuses.

Clinical, radiological and CT findings for each adjacent subsite were tabulated and compared in 25 consecutive cases undergoing surgery for malignant lesions of the maxillo-ethmoid complex. It was found that tumour extensions into nose, palate, cheek and orbit were identified correctly in a high proportion of cases clinically and radiologically. Posterior extensions into infratemporal or pterygopalatine fossae were evident clinically in only one out of 5 cases. Clinical assessment failed to detect orbital invasion in 3 out of 7 cases, while CT missed orbital periosteal involvement in one case. CT overestimated spheno-ethmoidal extensions of tumour in 44% (8/18) cases.