The postoperative maxillary cyst: report of 71 cases.

The postoperative maxillary cyst develops as a delayed complication many years after surgical intervention in the maxillary sinus. The clinical, radiographic, surgical, and histologic findings of 71 such cysts are described. The cysts occurred most frequently ten to 30 years after radical operations. The most common symptoms were swelling or pain of the cheek and the mucogingival fold of the maxilla. Radiographically, the lesions were either unilocular or multilocular, and bony perforation was noticed in half of them. The cysts were treated surgically in all cases. Most of them had a thin wall, lined with ciliated columnar epithelium. The results of our analysis and possible pathogenesis are discussed.