ANTRAL WINDOW IN THE MIDDLE MEATUS: Experiments and Presentation of Cases in Which an Antral Window Was Made in the Middle Meatus of the Human Subject and No Additional Surgical Procedures Were Performed

THE clinical research presented in this thesis was undertaken neither for the purpose of proving that the opening of a window into the maxillary antrum through the middle meatus is physiologically correct nor for the purpose of advocating such a procedure for drainage of the sinus. Rather, it was a matter of pure research to determine what occurs in an antrum and adjacent structures after the making of a middle meatal window. Pertinent experiments had been done on animals but not on the human subject. The work discussed in this paper was done with some trepidation despite my recognition of the work of men who had adopted this surgical procedure as one of choice. Then, too, I had made an antral opening through the middle meatus before the publication of the excellent experimental work of Hilding, Proetz, Van Alyea, Lucas, Lierle and others, with good results. However, without the encouragement