Abstract
Although patients with allergic rhinitis often report chronic inflammatory changes in their paranasal sinus mucosa, the frequency of sinus abnormalities in allergic patients is not well known. We radiologically studied paranasal sinuses radiographs of 277 patients with allergic rhinitis and evaluated the relationship between their clinical backgrounds and laboratory findings. Abnormal radiographic findings in paranasal sinuses were detected in 35.7% of all cases and in 50% of pediatric cases. Clinical records, the severity of nasal symptom scores, and CAP RAST scores did not affect the frequency of sinus opacity. The causative role of different antigens was not clear. Abnormal radiographic findings were most commonly observed in maxillary sinuses (bilateral 60.6% and unilateral 30.6%). We further categorized radiographic findings of the maxillary sinus based on their specific findings (mucosal thickening 58.1%, polyp formation 28%, and complete opacity 13.9%). Of these, patients with polyp formation showed a significantly higher degree of subjective symptoms and eosinophil infiltration. These results indicate that we cannot predicate sinus conditions directly from clinical information on the degree of allergic symptoms of individuals.
