USEFULNESS OF PATIENT SYMPTOMS AND NASAL ENDOSCOPY IN THE DIAGNOSIS OF CHRONIC SINUSITIS

The diagnosis of chronic sinusitis can be difficult doe to the variety and lack of specificity of presenting symptoms. Sinus CT scanning is presently considered the most sensitive and specific diagnostic method but is expensive. In order to determine whether a combination of pati ent symptoms and nasal endoscopy could be used to predict which patien ts would have CT evidence of chronic sinusitis, we conducted a prospec tive study in which 92 consecutive patients referred for chronic sinus itis were required to fill out a questionnaire detailing their symptom s. Their responses were then correlated with subsequent findings on na sal endoscopy and CT scanning. Briefly, we found that patients with he adache or facial pain as their chief complaint were less likely to hav e evidence of sinusitis than patients whose chief complaint was nasal obstruction or postnasal drip. Also, nasal endoscopy was shown to be m oderately sensitive and highly specific in predicting results of CT sc anning.