OBJECTIVE: Study the concept of “rhinosinusitis” in patients with inflammatory paranasal sinus disease (IPSD).
STUDY DESIGN AND SETTING: Prospective case control series in a tertiary care facility. Twenty-two consecutive patients with IPSD without polyposis were enrolled. A partial middle turbinectomy and ethmoidectomy were performed and the histopathologic findings of the surgical specimens from the 2 sites was studied. The general degree of inflammation, epithelial thickening, and inflammatory cell count were measured.
RESULTS: The degree of middle turbinate inflammation correlated with that of the ipsilateral ethmoid sinus (Spearman's rho coefficient = 0.450; P < 0.05). Epithelial thickness was more prominent in the ethmoid sinus. The total inflammatory cell count was comparable. There was a statistically significant correlation among total inflammatory cell count, plasma cell count, and eosinophil count between the 2 sites.
CONCLUSION: The ethmoid sinus inflammation in IPSD is accompanied by a commensurate ipsilateral middle turbinate inflammation.
SIGNIFICANCE: The data support the use of the term “rhino-sinusitis.”
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