PATTERNS OF SINUSITIS IN CYSTIC-FIBROSIS

It has been pediatric dogma that most children with cystic fibrosis (C F) have pansinusitis and few are symptomatic, To reassess this premise , we compared symptoms, clinical examinations, radiographic and surgic al findings, and results of treatment in 19 children with cystic fibro sis who had undergone computed tomography at St, Christopher's Hospita l (Philadelphia) hom 1991 to 1994. We found two distinct patterns of s inus disease: chronic sinusitis (n = 3) and polyposis (n = 12). Two of the patients with polyposis had ethmoid mucoceles and 1 child had no sinus disease at all, Children with chronic sinusitis had headache as a major complaint, while those with polyposis suffered nasal obstructi on alone unless a mucocele was present, Surgery provided marked and la sting improvement in the 14 patients who were operated on.