[Cystic lesions of the mucosa of the maxillary sinus. Clinical considerations and differential diagnosis]

The various pathogenic, radiological and clinical aspects of cystic lesions of the maxillary sinus mucosa (pseudocysts, retention cysts, mucocells) are examined together with related problems of differential diagnosis. Such lesions are sometimes found accidentally in the course of routine X-rays or on the basis of clinical indications not directly attributable to the presence of a cyst. Often they are completely asymptomatic so that they are less often recognised than their true incidence and are sometimes confused with maxillary sinus lesions of a totally different origin. In the personal experience described sinusoscopy proved a valuable adjunct to clinical and radiological investigations for the purposes of differential diagnosis and may in some cases form the first stage of treatment. The value of sinusoscopy is also enhanced by the possibility it offers for targeted biopsies at the same time.