Publication:

Nasal endoscopic evaluation of patients presenting with frontal headache

Background Headache is a universal symptom affecting most people at some point in their lifetime. The most common cause of headache in ENT is acute sinusitis or an acute exacerbation of chronic sinusitis. Anatomic variations like a massive concha bullosa, enlarged ethmoidal bulla, laterally rotated uncinate can interfere with mucociliary clearance. Thus, a thorough nasal endoscopic evaluation will help us to detect any anatomic abnormality which may predispose to sinogenic headache.

Methods 100 patients with frontal headache underwent diagnostic nasal endoscopy and all anatomic variations and pathological abnormalities were notedResults: 83% cases had a diagnosis of deviated nasal septum or rhinosinusitis, and the rest 17% had non sinonasal cause for headacheConclusions: Anatomic abnormalities like middle turbinate anomaly, spur, enlarged bulla, hyperplastic uncinate and pathological abnormality like mucopurulent discharge, polypi can be diagnostic of sinogenic cause for frontal headache.