An animal model for nasofrontal duct obstruction and frontal sinus mucocele formation.

BACKGROUND This study was performed to show occlusion of the nasofrontal duct and mucocele formation in a goat model. A pilot study was performed to investigate whether a goat is a suitable model for creating nasofrontal duct obstruction and mucocele formation. METHODS Three adult goats underwent frontal sinus anterior table osteoplastic flap creation with identification and occlusion of the nasofrontal outflow tract with frontalis muscle plugging. Three months later, the goats were killed and gross examination of the frontal sinus, along with histopathological confirmation of mucocele formation, were performed. RESULTS All animals showed mucocele formation on gross examination and histological sectioning. There was no gross or histological evidence of bony erosion. The nasofrontal outflow tracts remained occluded. CONCLUSION This study provides a suitable animal model for the investigation of nasofrontal outflow tract obstruction and mucocele formation in the frontal sinus. The goat frontal sinus and nasofrontal outflow tract provide an excellent model for frontal sinus studies because they are comparable in size with humans. The results provide evidence of mucocele formation with occluded nasofrontal outflow tracts.