Pathology of the Sphenoidal Sinus

Interest in the sphenoidal sinus began when Rouge1in 1872 happened to find in a cadaver a sphenoidal sinus filled with pus. But access to the sphenoidal sinus by instruments was at that time considered impossible. Zuckerkandl,2the anatomist, was the first to show how to reach it. Caution in exploration of this sinus still persists,3,4in spite of the ease of present-day methods.5-7 Sphenoidal sinusitis is found by the pathologist8,9,3in about 22% of all cases of sinus infection, either alone or combined with involvement of other sinuses, most frequently with maxillary sinusitis. This paper deals with complications due to suppurative or catarrhal sinusitis and also with pathology or tumors originating primarily within the sinus or originating outside the sphenoidal sinus and encroaching on neighboring structures. Pituitary tumors will be mentioned only in selected cases. The following cases of my own experience illustrate the