In our department, 223 patients with cancer of the nose and paranasal sinuses were treated throughout the past 25 years. We sent a questionnaire to 69 patients who are presently living, and received responses from 56 of them. For analysis of the questionnaires, the patients were divided into 4 groups according to the extent of surgery performed. These were: (1) antrotomy followed by intraarterial chemotherapy and radiotherapy,(2) partial resection of the maxilla,(3) total or subtotal maxillectomy, and (4) radical maxillectomy with orbital exenteration. Most patients of groups (2) to (4) were treated with intraarterial chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy prior to surgery. Health, life, ability to work, articulation, food intake and cosmetic problems of the face were studied, and compared among the groups. The results showed patients' health to be much better than expected. More than half of them had normal ability to work and showed mental stability. The patients who received total or subtotal maxillectomy tended to show weak mastication, disturbance of food intake and cosmetic discontent compared with other groups, while the patients who received radical maxillectomy with orbital exenteration tended to show better mastication than expected, and also exhibited a high level of contentment with cosmetic appearance when delayed reonstruction was performed.
