Pathology · patient case question
What does this histologic description represent?
Patient case: Post-Extraction Sinus Findings
demo: 52-year-old male
chief: Extraction of a non-restorable maxillary first molar.
history: Chronic nasal congestion and post-nasal drip for two years. Non-smoker.
meds: None
findings: After extraction of #14, soft tissue was retrieved from the socket and submitted for histopathology. The report describes pseudostratified ciliated columnar epithelium with a chronic inflammatory infiltrate.
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: D. Schneiderian (maxillary sinus) membrane with chronic sinusitis
- A. OKC lining is parakeratinized stratified squamous with a palisaded basal layer and a corrugated surface.
- B. Oral mucosa is stratified squamous, not pseudostratified columnar.
- C. A mucocele is a pool of extravasated mucin surrounded by granulation tissue, not ciliated respiratory epithelium.
- D. Correct. Pseudostratified ciliated columnar epithelium is respiratory epithelium. In a maxillary molar socket it indicates that the sinus lining was retrieved — an oroantral communication — and the chronic infiltrate indicates coexisting chronic sinusitis.