August 10, 2012 Nishant Kumar, MD; Raj Sindwani, MD, FACS
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Abstract
Bleeding during endoscopic sinus surgery (ESS) can interrupt the flow of the procedure and increase the risk of complications. Advances in microdebrider design now allow for bleeding to be controlled by bipolar energy during the suctioning and shaving of polyps. We conducted a retrospective study to examine the effects of this technology on blood loss and operating times during ESS for chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps (CRS+P). Our patient population was made up of 80 patients who had undergone ESS for CRS+P by the same surgeon from January 2007 through May 2008. All surgeries were performed with either the PK diego bipolar microdebrider (Gyrus ACMI, ENT Division; Bartlett, Tenn.) or a standard microdebrider. There were 40 patients in each group. The PK group was made up of 23 males and 17 females, aged 14 to 66 years (mean: 43.1), and the control group included 21 males and 19 females, aged 17 to 71 years (mean: 43.1); there were no statistically significant differences between the two groups in terms of sex and age. In addition to demographic data, the charts were reviewed for comorbidities and operative variables; the latter included blood loss, operating room (OR) time, and complications. The preoperative treatment and anesthesia protocols were similar for all patients, and all patients demonstrated a similar disease burden on imaging (mean Harvard CT stage: 3.12 for the PK group and 3.15 for the controls; p > 0.05). We found that during ESS, the PK group experienced significantly less intraoperative blood loss than did the controls (means: 86.0 and 123.0 ml, respectively; p = 0.015). In addition, the PK device was associated with significantly shorter OR times (means: 88.9 and 101.4 min, respectively; p = 0.026). There were no complications in either group. We conclude that using a microdebrider with bipolar capabilities during ESS may offer the advantages of less blood loss and shorter operating times in patients with nasal polyps.
July 5, 2012 Ross Shockley, MD; Soham Roy, MD
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Allergic fungal rhinosinusitis most often occurs in adolescents or young adults who exhibit nasal obstruction, congestion, purulent or clear rhinorrhea, anosmia, and headache--classic manifestations of chronic sinusitis.
August 15, 2011 Yaser Khalil, MD, Adel Tharwat, MD, Asmaa Gaber Abdou, MD, Enas Essa, MD, Abdel Hamid Elsawy, MD, Osama Elnakib, MD, and Nada Farag Elnaidany, PhD
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Abstract
Allergic fungal rhinosinusitis (AFRS) is the most common form of fungal sinus disease. Its recurrence rate is high despite numerous strategies to prevent it. We conducted a study to assess the effect of systemic and topical antifungal agents-both separately and in combination-in preventing recurrence of AFRS following functional endoscopic sinus surgery (FESS). Our initial study population was made up of 50 adults who were diagnosed with AFRS by clinical, radiologic, histopathologic, and laboratory workup and who subsequently underwent FESS. Postoperatively, these patients were randomized into 5 different treatment groups matched for sex, age, and socioeconomic status. Four of the groups received a different antifungal regimen in addition to convenient medical treatment (CMT), while a fifth group served as a control. The antifungal regimens included oral itraconazole (group A), fluconazole nasal spray (group B), combined oral itraconazole and nasal fluconazole (group C), and irrigation with a fluconazole solution through the nasal fossa (group D); the group of 10 controls (group E) received CMT only. A total of 41 patients were available for follow-up (9 mo maximum). Recurrence rates in the 5 groups were 66.7, 10.0, 14.3, 28.6, and 75.0%, respectively. Based on our findings, we conclude that treatment with topical fluconazole as either a nasal spray or an irrigation solution can significantly reduce the rate of recurrence of AFRS after FESS.
August 15, 2011 David Conley, MD, Aaron Pearlman, MD, Kali Zhou, MD, Rakesh Chandra, MD, and Robert Kern, MD
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Abstract
Point-of-care computed tomography (POC-CT) has become more feasible since the introduction of smaller imaging devices that deliver lower radiation doses. As the availability of this modality continues to increase, its impact on diagnostic and therapeutic algorithms in patients with chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) must be evaluated. We conducted a study of 40 consecutively presenting new patients who (1) met the symptom criteria for CRS but whose endoscopy results were negative (i.e., no pus, polyps, or edema), (2) had not undergone any previous CT scanning or sinus surgery, and (3) had undergone POC-CT during their initial evaluation. A comparison group was made up of 40 patients from the pre-POC-CT era whose initial treatment had been based on the history alone; these patients underwent CT after their medical therapy had been completed. In the pre-POC-CT group, follow-up CT showed evidence of inflammatory disease in 24 patients (60%), 13 of whom (54.2%) had received an antibiotic at their initial visit, including 2 who had received an oral steroid, as well; among the 16 patients whose follow-up CT was negative, only 2 (12.5%) had received an antibiotic, neither of whom received an oral steroid. In the POC-CT group, 27 of 40 patients (67.5%) had positive findings at the initial visit, and 14 of them (51.9%) received an antibiotic and an oral steroid; none of the 13 patients in whom POC-CT was negative was prescribed either agent. Thus, the incidence of scan positivity and antibiotic use was similar in the two cohorts. Also, patients who met the symptomatic definition of CRS but who were lacking in objective endoscopic findings were more likely to have received an oral steroid when POC-CT was part of the initial assessment; these patients were also less likely to be lost to follow-up. Ongoing prospective studies will better characterize the magnitude of these effects on long-term outcomes, antibiotic resistance, healthcare costs, and overall quality of care.
June 13, 2011 Samuel S. Becker, MD, Deanne M. Roberts, MD, Peter A. Beddow, MA, Paul T. Russell, MD, and James A. Duncavage, MD
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Abstract
The cases of 80 patients who underwent Caldwell-Luc surgery for the treatment of chronic rhinosinusitis between 2002 and 2007 at Vanderbilt University Medical Center's Department of Otolaryngology were reviewed. Data on demographics, comorbidities, details of surgery, surgical pathology, and histology were collected. These data were compared with those of 40 patients who underwent standard functional endoscopic sinus surgery in 2007. Statistically significant differences were found in terms of mean patient age, sex, mean number of sinuses surgically addressed, number of prior surgeries, and tissue eosinophil counts. Microscopic examination revealed the presence of “necrotic bone” in 2 Caldwell-Luc specimens, and “necrotic debris” in 2 other Caldwell-Luc specimens. No similar finding was seen in the control group. Caldwell-Luc is a surgery of last resort for patients who fail aggressive interventions for maxillary sinus disease. The mucosal lining of this small group of patients appears to be different from that of patients who respond favorably to functional endoscopic sinus surgery.
July 31, 2010 Alexander C. Chester, MD, FACP
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Abstract
Most patients with chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) are treated by internists, yet the information available to internists about CRS is rarely assessed. The author undertook a study to evaluate the amount and quality of information about CRS that is available to internists. Four information sources were analyzed: (1) five journals routinely read by internists, published over a 10-year period and searched on PubMed for the “exploded” terms chronic and sinusitis; (2) seven representative general and outpatient medicine texts, searched on MD Consult and STAT!Ref; (3) the 14th edition of the Medical Knowledge Self-Assessment Program (MKSAP 14), a review of internal medicine; and (4) four commonly used Internet databases. The five journals contained a total of 37,250 cited articles of various types over the study period; CRS was mentioned in only 19 of them. The standard medical texts offered little information about CRS, and MKSAP 14 did not mention CRS at all in the text, although it included some information in the questions and answers. Finally, among the online sources, UpToDate, a proprietary Internet database, offered an excellent discourse on CRS; in contrast, the Physicians' Information and Education Resource, maintained by the American College of Physicians, contained no information about CRS in its 436 subject modules. The author concludes that, with few exceptions, the literature routinely available to internists offers little information about CRS.
February 1, 2010 Benjamin D. Webb, MD, Kevin D. Pereira, MD, MS (ORL), and Samer Fakhri, MD, FACS, FRCS
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Abstract
We present what to the best of our knowledge is the first reported case of an orbital abscess as a result of acute rhinosinusitis caused by obstruction of the middle meatus secondary to the impaction of a nasal foreign body in a child. The patient, a 5-year-old Hispanic boy, had presented with left periorbital edema, eye pain, rhinorrhea, headache, and a fever. The presence of a nasal foreign body had been suggested by a finding of a low-density signal in the left anterior nasal cavity and middle meatus on computed tomography. Endoscopic drainage of the abscess through the involved sinuses revealed that the foreign body was a wad of cotton. The cotton was removed, and the patient recovered uneventfully.
February 1, 2010 James Stankiewicz, MD, FACS, Theodore Truitt, MD, and James Atkins Jr., MD
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Abstract
A prospective, multicenter research study is under way to demonstrate long-term improvement in chronic rhinosinusitis symptoms after transantral balloon dilation of the ethmoid infundibulum. Trial results from an interim analysis of symptomatic status using the Sino-Nasal Outcome Test 20 survey demonstrate significant and sustained improvement through post-procedure 1-year follow-up. Additionally, these data provide evidence that the symptomatic improvements following balloon expansion within the ostiomeatal unit to treat medically refractory inflammation of the maxillary sinuses, either alone or with concomitant anterior ethmoid disease, are similar.
March 31, 2009 Ioannis Vlastos, MD, Ioannis Athanasopoulos, MD, PhD, Nicholas S. Mastronikolis, MD, PhD, Theodora Panogeorgou, MD, Vassilios Margaritis, MD, Stefanos Naxakis, MD, PhD, and Panos D. Goumas, MD
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Abstract
Although mucociliary clearance has been shown to be impaired in patients with allergic rhinitis and chronic rhinosinusitis, its exact role in relation to a predisposition to rhinosinusitis is unknown. To investigate this possible association, we conducted a prospective study of 125 patients with allergic rhinitis. Of this group, 23 patients were classified as being sinusitis-prone based on their history of antibiotic consumption for the treatment of rhinosinusitis; the remaining 102 patients were deemed to be not sinusitis-prone. The saccharine test was used to evaluate mucociliary clearance in all patients. Several variables-age, sex, smoking habits, rhinitis severity, and medication history-were examined. We found that the sinusitis-prone patients had a significantly greater mucociliary clearance time than did those who were not prone (median: 15 and 12 min, respectively; p = 0.02). No other statistically significant differences were seen between the 2 groups with respect to any other variables that might have affected mucociliary clearance. We conclude that impaired mucociliary clearance in allergic rhinitis patients is associated with a predisposition to rhinosinusitis.
September 25, 2008 Seth J. Kanowitz, MD, Annette O. Nusbaum, MD, Joseph B. Jacobs, MD, and Richard A. Lebowitz, MD
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Abstract
With the availability of high-resolution computed tomography (CT), a great deal of attention has been paid to the anatomy of the paranasal sinuses. But while investigators have focused on the osteomeatal complex and its relation to chronic rhinosinusitis, there has been little discussion of the superior turbinate. Although a few anatomic studies have tried to quantify pneumatization of the superior turbinate, the prevalence of this finding on radiography is not well addressed in the literature. We prospectively studied 100 consecutively presenting patients who underwent coronal CT of the paranasal sinuses (200 sides) for the evaluation of symptoms of chronic rhinosinusitis at an academic tertiary referral center to determine the prevalence of pneumatization of the superior turbinate. We found evidence of pneumatization in 44 of the 200 sides, for a prevalence of 22%. In all, pneumatized superior turbinates were found in 27 patients (27%)—bilaterally in 17 (17%) and unilaterally in 10 (10%).
December 1, 2007 Arif Ali, DLO, MS, Mary Kurien, DLO, MS, and K.G. Selvaraj, PhD
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Abstract
In patients with chronic rhinosinusitis, the presence of maxillary sinus hypoplasia (MSH) may be obscured by extensive mucosal disease or nasal polyposis. Recognition of MSH and its effect on adjacent anatomic structures is of utmost clinical significance in endoscopic sinus surgery. Failure to recognize the impact that MSH has on the position of the ethmoid infundibulum relative to the medial orbital wall could lead to inadvertent damage to the wall during surgery. We conducted a prospective study of 75 patients with clinically and endoscopically proven chronic rhinosinusitis to evaluate the prevalence of MSH. We found that MSH was present in 12 patients (16.0%); 7 of the 75 patients (9.3%) had bilateral disease, and 5 (6.7%) had unilateral disease. We then correlated the relationship of the ethmoid infundibulum to the medial orbital wall as determined by computed tomography in patients with and without MSH. We found that in most cases of MSH, the ethmoid infundibulum was displaced lateral to the medial wall of the orbit; the correlation between MSH status and displacement was statistically significant (p < 0.05). We propose the term “infundibular lateralization” to describe this consistent radiologic finding in MSH.
