Ohngren’s Line

Ohngren’s line is defined by a plane drawn between the medial canthus of the eye and the angle of the mandible.¹²
- It is used to divide the maxillary sinus into an anteroinferior (infrastructure) portion, as well as a posterosuperior (suprastructure) portion.
Clinically, Ohngren’s line has been used as a predictor for prognosis for tumours of the nasal cavity and paranasal sinuses.
- Tumours above Ohngren’s line have a poorer prognosis due to due to early invasion into critical structures such as the orbit, skull base, pterygoid plates, and infratemporal fossa.
- Tumours below Ohngren’s line have a better prognosis.

Ohngren's Line

Ohngren, L. Georg. “Malignant tumours of the maxilloethmoidal region: a clinical study with special reference to the treatment with electrosurgery and irradiation.” Acta Otolaryngol (Stockh) 19 (1933): 1-476. ↩
Amin, Mahul B., and Stephen B. Edge. “Nasal Cavity and Paranasal Sinuses.” AJCC Cancer Staging Manual , 8th ed., Springer, 2017, pp. 137–147. ↩

Last updated October 15, 2022