COMPARISON OF A SCREENING CORONAL CT VERSUS A CONTIGUOUS CORONAL CT FOR THE EVALUATION OF PATIENTS WITH PRESUMPTIVE SINUSITIS

Background: Computed tomography has greatly improved the accuracy of s inus imaging. While contiguous coronal computed tomography scanning of the sinuses provides detailed imaging as compared with plain sinus ra diography, this modality is significantly more expensive and involves exposure of the patient to a higher dose of radiation. It has become i ncreasingly common to obtain screening, or non-contigous, CT scans of the sinuses when screening for the presence of sinusitis. Objective: T o calculate the sensitivity and specificity of the screening coronal C T scan of the sinuses in screening for inflammatory disease using the contiguous coronal CT examination of the sinuses as the standard. Meth ods: From contiguous coronal computed tomograms of the paranasal sinus es, screening coronal computed tomographic examinations were created f or 44 patients. Patients were being screened for the presence of sinus itis in the Comprehensive Sinus Clinic at St. Louis University. The tw o examinations were reviewed independently and in random order by two neuroradiologists. Using the original examinations as the standard, th e sensitivity and specificity of the screening studies were calculated for various situations. Results: Overall, a sensitivity of 93.3% and a specificity of 89.3% for the detection of inflammatory disease of th e sinuses by the screening examination was observed. Conclusions: The screening coronal computed tomogram of the paranasal sinuses may be us eful in the evaluation of the patient with possible sinusitis.