Prevalence of sinusitis among patients in absence of abnormal intracranial findings in plain cranial CT scan studies / Jose Maria Mendoza.

Includes appendices and bibliographical references.

Abstract: Rhinosinusitis can be defined as symptomatic inflammation involving the paranasal sinuses and nasal cavity. It can be classified as acute if it lasts up to 4 weeks and as chronic if it persists for at least 12 consecutive weeks (Rosenfeld, R et al., 2015). Headache is one of the common symptoms of sinusitis and it may be due to sinugenic causes and occurs in people ages 25 to 30years old and equally in both gender. (Kumar, P. et. Al, 2020). Many studies have suggested CT scan is the gold standard for assessing anatomical structures and sinus related diseases. It can be used to evaluated the pattern of disease, extent of the disease and possible outflow obstruction as well as for surgical planning (Kroll, H. et al., 2016). Although most of the indications for plain cranial CT scan done is to rule out parenchymal hemorrhage, infarction or space occupying lesions, incidental plain cranial CT scan findings of sinus disease have also been reported. The aim of the study is to determine the prevalence of sinusitis in patients with intracranial symptoms such as headache and/or dizziness in absence of abnormal findings in Plain Cranial CT scan This is a retrospective Cross-Sectional study using CT scan which aims to determine the prevalence of sinusitis in patients in the absence of abnormal intracranial findings in plain cranial CT scan studies done in FEU-NRMF from January 2019 to December 2019 once they met the inclusion criteria. Total enumeration will be used as sampling methodology for this study. A total of 254 patients ages 18-80 years old were included and characterized according to their demographic data such as age, gender, symptomatology and paranasal sinus involvement. Of the total, there is almost equal distribution among males and females of about53.1% and 46.9% respectively. The age distribution was composed mostly of the 18-30 years old (39.8%) followed by the 31-40 age group (35%). Based on symptoms, the most prevalent was headache (58.3%) a followed by dizziness (22.4%) and lastly by a combination of both (19.3%). The most commonly involved sinus was the maxillary sinus of about 43.3% followed by the ethmoid sinuses comprising 20.5% of the total. Knowing the demographic data of patients prone to having sinusitis can aid in the early detection and prevention of possible complications as well as for planning of treatment options in these patients.

Research - Department of Radiology