Nonhealing orbital floor fracture in a pediatric patient: A unique presentation of pseudo-silent sinus syndrome

ABSTRACT

Silent sinus syndrome was first described as spontaneous enophthalmos and hypoglobus associated with subclinical maxillary sinusitis without prior trauma or surgery. This clinical entity has later been described after trauma in which damage to the ostiomeatal complex leads to atelectasis of the maxillary sinus. We report a case of a 14-year-old boy who presented 4 years after sustaining a non-operative orbital floor fracture with enophthalmos and transient diplopia. Computed tomography (CT) demonstrated enlargement in size of the original orbital floor fracture and bilateral maxillary sinus disease. Bilateral chronic sinusitis suggested an anatomical predisposition to sinusitis unrelated to the prior trauma. The authors propose that, in this case, negative pressure in the maxillary sinus and chronic inflammation led to bone resorption and failure of the orbital fracture to heal. This differs from prior reports of silent sinus syndrome in that there was complete resorption of bone of the orbital floor and no decrease in volume of the maxillary sinus given the open communication of the sinus and the orbit, making this a unique presentation of pseudo-silent sinus syndrome in a pediatric patient.

Keywords:

• Silent sinus syndrome
• orbital floor fracture
• nonunion or orbital fracture
• diplopia
• enophthalmos

Disclosure statement

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the article.