A man, aet. twenty-eight years, complains of nasal obstruction and purulent discharge, with a disagreeable odor in the nose. The polypi having been removed, the pus appeared to flow from under the anterior ends of the middle turbinates. After wiping the discharge away and bending the patient’s head forward, it reappeared in large quantity. On transillumination the cheek on both sides appeared quite dark, and the patient had no subjective sensation of light. The diagnosis of antral suppuration was now considered almost certain, and the patient was advised to have both antra punctured from the alveolar margins. This was accordingly attempted under gas, but although the antrum drill was forced in for its full length, no cavity was reached.
Puncture from the inferior meatus was next attempted, and considerable force was used in two different points; but with no better result. It would seem therefore that the antra must be very small, if not entirely absent.
Discussion.—Mr. Spencer thought it might be one of those convoluted inferior turbinals which form a gutter in which pus collects. The majority considered it suppuration in the ethmoidal region.