Relevance of conventional radiography in indicating maxillary antral lavage.

The conventional radiographs of 84 antra were used to study the relationship of radiographic interpretation with the lavage result. In addition, the interpretations by a clinician and a radiologist were compared, showing that there was no significant difference between the predictive accuracy of either. The only reliable radiographic predictor of lavage result was the presence of normality or a fluid level; opacity and so-called mucosal thickening were deemed unreliable and their validity was questioned.