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Retrospective evaluation of ponticulus posticus prevalence, sella turcica types, and stylohyoid complex calcifications in a group of Turkish population

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Abstract

The aim of this retrospective analysis was to assess the incidence of ponticulus posticus and stylohyoid ligament calcification and to evaluate the morphological variations of the sella turcica within the Turkish demographic using CBCT scans. Involving a retrospective review of 460 CBCT scans and utilizing the NewTom 3G system, the study analyzed high-quality CBCT images to investigate ponticulus posticus, stylohyoid ligament calcifications, and sella turcica morphology. The ponticulus posticus was examined for complete or partial formations, while the stylohyoid ligament was classified according to its elongation and calcification patterns. The sella turcica was categorized into six distinct morphological types, enhancing the understanding of structural variations in the context of the Turkish population. The calcification patterns of the styloid processes were examined on both sides of 380 individuals, revealing the highest prevalence in the ‘d’ and ‘e’ categories on the right, and similar findings on the left among 373 individuals. Symmetric calcification patterns were more common, with 68.4% symmetry observed. For the sella turcica, category ‘a’ was the most frequent among 363 individuals. Analysis of ponticulus posticus absence and presence showed a majority lacking this feature on both sides, with complete and partial forms less common. The study highlights the anatomical variability and bilateral symmetry of the styloid processes, sella turcica, and ponticulus posticus, illustrating that these structures do not significantly vary with gender or age. These results hold clinical significance for the diagnosis and treatment of related conditions, prompting further investigation into their impact on patient care.

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Data availability

The data that support the findings of this study are available on request from the corresponding author AK. The data are not publicly available due to their containing information that could compromise the privacy of research participants.

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Funding

No funding was received for conducting this study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Dentomaxillofacial Radiology, Faculty of Dentistry, Near East University, TRNC Mersin 10 Turkiye, Nicosia, Cyprus

    Aida Kurbanova & Seçil Aksoy

  2. Department of Dentomaxillofacial Radiology, Ankara University, Ankara, Turkey

    Elif Polat Balkan, Burak İncebeyaz & Kaan Orhan

  3. Medical Design Application and Research Center (MEDITAM), Ankara University, Ankara, Turkey

    Kaan Orhan

  4. Department of Oral Diagnostics, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary

    Kaan Orhan

Authors
  1. Aida Kurbanova
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  2. Elif Polat Balkan
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  3. Burak İncebeyaz
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  4. Seçil Aksoy
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  5. Kaan Orhan
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study's conception and design. The preparation of the project was done by Kaan Orhan. Data collection and selecting patient data were done by Seçil Aksoy. Evaluating images, and making measurements were done by Aida Kurbanova, Elif Polat Balkan, Burak İncebeyaz. Writing publications was done by Aida Kurbanova. The final manuscript has been read and approved by all authors. The radiological investigation presented herein is an original contribution and has neither been published previously in any form nor is it concurrently under review by any other scholarly journal.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Aida Kurbanova.

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Conflicts of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethics approval

The study was approved by the Bioethics Committee of the Faculty of Medicine of Near East University (YDU/2018/64–702).

Informed consent

All procedures followed were in accordance with the ethical standards of the responsible committee on human experimentation (institutional and national) and with the Helsinki Declaration of 1975, as revised in 2008 (5). Informed consent was obtained from all patients for being included in the study.

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Kurbanova, A., Polat Balkan, E., İncebeyaz, B. et al. Retrospective evaluation of ponticulus posticus prevalence, sella turcica types, and stylohyoid complex calcifications in a group of Turkish population. Anat Sci Int (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12565-024-00785-3

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