ROLE OF MIDDLE MEATUS ASPIRATION CULTURE IN THE DIAGNOSIS OF CHRONIC SINUSITIS

Although empiric antibiotic therapy is often used for sinusitis, the e mergence of antibiotic resistance has increased the failure rate of th is approach, Culture-directed therapy usually increases treatment succ ess, but traditional antral puncture is often accompanied by poor pati ent and physician acceptance. Endoscopically directed middle meatal as piration culture is increasingly used in this setting, but studies hav e not convincingly demonstrated the validity of this technique. Both e ndoscopic middle meatal and direct antral cultures were performed duri ng endoscopic sinus surgery. Cytologic examination was performed to co nfirm the presence of inflammatory cells. When culture results were co mpared in 21 specimen pairs, exact correlation was found in 18 (85.7%) . Based on this study, endoscopically directed middle meatus aspiratio n culture appears to be a valuable alternative to antral puncture for guiding organism-specific antibiotic therapy in sinusitis.