Paradoxical middle turbinate

Last revised by Mostafa El-Feky on 13 Dec 2022

Citation, DOI, disclosures and article data

Citation:

El Deen M, El-Feky M, Jabaz D, et al. Paradoxical middle turbinate. Reference article, Radiopaedia.org (Accessed on 29 Nov 2023) https://doi.org/10.53347/rID-47185

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.53347/rID-47185

Permalink:

https://radiopaedia.org/articles/47185

rID:

47185

Article created:

3 Aug 2016, Mohamed El Deen

Disclosures:

At the time the article was created Mohamed El Deen had no recorded disclosures.

View Mohamed El Deen's current disclosures

Last revised:

13 Dec 2022, Mostafa El-Feky ◉

Disclosures:

At the time the article was last revised Mostafa El-Feky had no financial relationships to ineligible companies to disclose.

View Mostafa El-Feky's current disclosures

Revisions:

14 times, by 10 contributors - see full revision history and disclosures

Systems:

Head & Neck

Sections:

Anatomy

Tags:

cases

Synonyms:

Paradoxical rotation of the middle turbinate
Paradoxical rotation of the middle turbinates
Paradoxical middle turbinates
Paradoxical middle concha
Paradoxical turbinate
Paradoxical concha
Paradoxical middle nasal turbinate
Paradoxical middle nasal concha

Paradoxical middle turbinate is a rare developmental cause of nasal obstruction. It refers to an inferomedially curved middle turbinate edge with the concave surface facing the nasal septum and usually occurs bilaterally.

Epidemiology

Paradoxical middle turbinate is a rarely encountered anomaly and can be easily recognized in CT paranasal sinuses but can be overlooked on endoscopic examination ³.

The prevalence reported by different authors may diverge because some of them consider any involved portion of the turbinate as paradoxical curvature, whereas others may consider this variation only in cases where the whole turbinate is unusually curved towards the opposite side ⁴.

Another study indicated paradoxical middle turbinate represents 9% of total anatomical variations.

Radiographic features

This anatomic variant alone can lead to significant narrowing of the middle nasal meatus and impede the normal drainage of paranasal sinuses due to ostiomeatal complex obstruction ². When associated with a concha bullosa, it can potentially lead to nasal obstruction ².