Publication:

Assessment of efficacy of CT scan and diagnostic nasal endoscopy in chronic atrophic rhinitis cases

Background Chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) is a heterogeneous disorder leads to inflammation of nose and paranasal air sinuses. CRS affects quality of life of affected people, its diagnosis and management of is still a major challenge for the ENT specialists. CT scan and diagnostic nasal endoscopy of nose and paranasal sinuses plays an important role in the management of CRS.

Methods A total 42 cases with clinically diagnosed chronic rhinosinusitis between age group 2nd -6th decade were considered. All the participants underwent a systemic diagnostic nasal endoscopy and CT scan of nose and paranasal air sinuses before surgery.

Results Nasal blockage/obstruction (95.2%), headache/facial pain (90.4%), nasal discharge (85.7%), sneezing (76.1%) are commonest symptoms. Diagnostic nasal endoscopy noted to be a sensitive investigation tool for the sphenoethmoid recess, hiatus semilunaris and frontal recess. The sensitivity of above parameters is 100%, 94.8% and 95.1% respectively whereas, specificity is 83.2%, 79.5% and 94.8%.

Conclusions Diagnostic nasal endoscopy findings and CT scan findings correlated very well with the operative findings. In few cases DNE could not visualize all the parameters due to anatomical deviations. But CT scan is a specific diagnostic tool which depicted all the parameters except maxillary sinus and its bony shell in very few cases.